Dark Days
This week has been filled with trials - both close to home and farther away, though it hits close. Each day has brought challenges which have tested my strength and rocked my emotions. Such times often feel unbearable. How am I supposed to make it through?
Thankfully, it’s not up to me. I can’t save the world. I can’t take care of everyone in my immediate circle. Neither can you. I’d like to think I am that capable sometimes, but it’s that inherited sinful human desire that brought us to this mess in the first place.
In the Fall, Man became convinced that he could be like God. He was deceived. No one can take on God’s role.
And the more I remind myself of that, the more assured I become. Don’t get me wrong, this doesn’t eliminate trouble. Tragedy still strikes. Hearts still break. Bodies still ache. And yet, I have a greater hope that goes beyond that.
When I see the chaos happening in the world, when I prepare to possibly say goodbye to a dear horse at work, I look to Him. My pithy efforts to tackle insurmountable situations are a poor band-aid compared to His grand plan. I just can’t see it, and when I lose sight of Him, I forget that He’s in control and I am not.
Daily reminders keep me grounded. When my heart is gripped with pain, I can take a moment to stop and observe His Creation. What wonders He has made and sustains. I listen to my horses eating their hay; I hear their easy breathing and the grass crunching in their teeth. They are at peace, content with simply being what they were created to be.
I watch the birds outside, happily playing and bathing in puddles from last night’s rain storm. They chirp merrily as they bounce and splash around. They are thankful for the new watering hole, though they don’t know it will be gone within a day or two. Not that they care; their needs are satisfied.
The cats lay lazily in the sunshine. Their bellies are full, and they are sprawled out near each other on the warm dirt driveway. They are happy to rest and enjoy each other’s company. Danielle meows as I walk up. She rises to her feet, stretches, then curls around my leg, purring all the while. I pick her up and hold her close, enjoying her joyful rumble.
And just like that, I am reminded Whom I serve. I serve the God who sees the trials and who reaches into His Creation to comfort the hearts of His people. He doesn’t stop all bad things from happening - He gave us free will, though some use it abhorrently - but He is with us in the midst of it. He stepped down to live and suffer among us.
Before He faced the great trial of His death, Jesus gave words of encouragement to His disciples. Not only was He Himself about to die, but He knew that His followers would come to suffer as well - because of Him. Yet that suffering is not the end.
“‘I have told you these things so that in Me you may have peace. You will have suffering in this world. Be courageous! I have conquered the world.” (John 16:33, HCSB)
The darkness is not the end, my friends. It hurts - undeniably and sometimes unbearably so - but give your hurt to Him. The King wants to take your pain, and our King will one day return to conquer suffering forever and to bring eternal healing.