I feel the Holy Spirit pressing a word on me for someone out there going through a difficult time. They are screaming out to God daily, almost ready to give up on Him. They feel their prayers are unheard, unanswered, that God does not know them. They are desperately waiting for God to pluck them out of their despair.
My friend…hear me…God sees you. God knows you. He has not forsaken you. He has not abandoned you.
David wrote, though I walk through the valley of death, I will fear no evil for you are with me (Psalm 23:4).
Pay close attention to David’s words here, he writes walks through the valley. He does not say, God plucked me out of the valley, so I know God is with me. He does not say, the valley is narrow, so his time in darkness is short. He proclaims that God is with him in the valley. God is with you in your darkness. In your despair.
Job writes after everything was taken from him, near death, after listening to his friends accuse him of not really knowing God and before his life was restored, “I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees you (42:5). It was through the darkest period of Job’s life that he began to understand God’s entire nature.
Dear one – turn your eyes away from the expectation of God ending your season of darkness and turn toward eagerly seeking Him in the valley.
He is desperately eager for you to know Him.
I have a promise for you.
The prophet Isaiah writes,
“Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you. For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior (43:1-3).
I know it’s hard to hear these words in the middle of dark seasons. I get it. I’ve been there too, but here is the promise that you can cling onto, You Are His. He has called You. You may pass through some deep waters, may even feel like you are drowning – You will not. The fires may rage all around you, you will feel the heat, you may get tinged, but I promise those fires will never consume you. You will come through smelling like smoke, but you will come through.
God does not promise us a life free from trouble. He promises a life where He will never leave.
I promise you the Lord is with you.
Hold on.
Darkness shall never consume the Light.
alivefullyawake 