From the Start…

He was with God in the beginning.³Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. ⁵The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
John 1:1-5

What a comfort for me to know I don’t have to figure it all out. God’s knowledge of me and my circumstances as well as how my life entwines with the lives of those around me and His greater purpose and plan is incomprehensible.

My faith is an amazing gift that supersedes all others. I don’t have to be able to explain it all or understand it all. I can simply trust.

For as long as I can remember, satan has been actively attempting to destroy my faith. Many times he stooped so low. And his favorite tactic has always involved the ugliness within a church body or ugly behavior by a church “representatives”.

Satan loves to niggle at our faith. His goal is to cause us to doubt God’s goodness and to get us to say, “God, did you really say______________?” The devil wants nothing more than to interrupt our relationship with God and cause us to set it aside and ignore it or outright reject it. Have you noticed satan creating “faith blockers” in your life through the years? In my life, it is so common it is almost comical — except that it isn’t funny at all. I am so thankful God shielded my faith even in the midst of ugly situations.

God’s gift of faith has sustained me through many difficulties and will continue to do so until I meet him face-to-face. I may not be able to explain it all, but it is absolutely real.

Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. Hebrews 11:1

The Shadows

Have you ever been afraid in the dark? Have shadows played “tricks” on you? Did you ever think you saw something and then realized it was just a shadow of something small that looked scary or intimidating?

Oh, the complications that come from the darkness! Whether it is due to fear, shame, or embarrassment, when a portion of your life is in the dark, the results seem to be similar. The darkness distorts how we see our situation and it also complicates how our situation can be viewed by others. Those who are in a position to help can’t exactly see where they can help.

Darkness can shut people out and that isolation only complicates our situation.

Allowing God’s love, light, forgiveness, and redemption into our dark space can bring healing.

Let the Son shine in!

Darkness

1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning.³Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. ⁵The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
John 1:1-5

Those things that are hidden in the darkness can cause a lot of problems. They might be tucked away in a corner and it might feel as though it has been forgotten but satan loves to use it as a piece of “I told you so,” or “You’ll never change,” or “That was unforgivable.”

Those lies … they fester in the dark …. they linger and take root like a weed. And, worst of all, they seem to multiply and become more and more oppressive. When we insist there is no right or wrong — no Light or dark — then we find that we have to defend our position.

Even when we are dead wrong…

The way to fix any of it is to allow the Light of the world to flood in and bring His Love and Life — the forgiveness, the perspective, the peace that can only come from Jesus. It takes humility as well as knowing our place in the Universe. This allowing comes when we recognize that God is God and we are not.

May God’s love and light flood every corner of our lives and bring forth forgiveness and restoration.