The Glory Light in the Midst of Dread

This week has been a hard week. I was physically not feeling well all week. Laying in bed and napping, and being still is not something I do well or enjoy. This week I found myself doing a lot of this. My stomach issues have continued to linger, and on top of this extreme dizziness and the feeling I am going to faint has also come and gone each day.  It surely makes going about my normal active days difficult.

It seems there is this similar feeling of gloominess and hardship that is lingering over many around me. It is festival season here and we have to wonder if the Hindu poojas and special sacrifices are having a part in the atmosphere around us. Is it spiritual or is it just part of life? Do we walk through it with JC or do we rebuke it? Having the mind of Chri$t here is so important and living a life lead by Him alone. It determines the outcome of days sometimes.

Though I couldn't trek to the village this week and could hardly sit much less stand through chur*ch, I was able to sit and talk with some close friends this week about the fog and dread of depression one of them were facing. It's a wretched thing. We know it's not of God and while He allows hardship and seasons like this at times to teach us and draw things to the surface that He wants to perfect, I don't believe that He ever desires us to accept this place of doom and stay there.

He desires to bring His light and truth and hope and healing into our lives. He desires to draw us closer and teach us and make us more like Him. I think sometimes He uses times of desperation and depression to reveal Himself to us. It's like we know all about Him, but sometimes we miss Him. We can be surrounded by millions of people and still feel alone. As we prayed and my friend heard JC speak to him, he said this, "Now in a clearer way I see how faithful God has been to me. We have this cognitive knowledge (of God), but I can feel it REAL today.  God is with me!"

John 8:32 says, " You will know the truth and the truth will set you free."  This "truth" is JC.  And it's not just having a cognitive understanding of Him, it is having an encounter with Him. It's having experiences with Him, each and every day that shape us and mold us and literally change our current lives, circumstances, and understanding. He is REAL. His truth is REAL, and His light shines in the midst of dread. Knowing, really knowing this person of Truth changes everything. He himself makes verses like James 1, "Consider it pure joy my friend when you face trials of many kinds..." And James 4..."Submit yourself to God; resist the Devil, and he will flee from you.." believable.  

Knowing this man, JC, gives me hope!
Encountering His light, brings me freedom!
Understanding Him and walking with Him gives me life even on the hardest of days.

No matter what I face, or others around me face, His glory light truly shines in the midst of dread.
 

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