I remember when I was a teen, playing this game of haunted house at church.
We turned off all the lights in that section of the church, and it got pitch black inside.
There were no windows in this whole section of the church. It was just like a couple long hallways. And in the hallways, there were doors. All the doors were shut.
All we had to do, was go down a few hallways to reach the end of the haunted house. It was very simple.
But, it was dark…and I got lost.
I ended up opening a door and going inside. Inside the room, it was very dark. Pitch black. I couldn’t find a light switch to turn the lights on. So, I felt my way around the room. I realized that it was a bathroom pretty quickly as my leg hit the toilet. 😳
After what seemed like FOR-EVER, I made my way out of the bathroom, following the walls, and into the hallway again….it took another 10 minutes to find my way out of the hallway.
I’m pretty sure that 10-15 mins felt like forever.
I was walking around, feeling walls, trying to find my way out of the darkness.
I was praying to God that He’d help me find my way out and quick.
I was embarrassed because I’d been in there way longer than everyone else’s turn.
It’s something I’ll never forget because it reminds me of life.
Sometimes, it FEELS LIKE, it’s pitch black, all around us. Like, we’ll never make it out…we’ve been stumbling around in the dark so long…looking for a light switch, a door, something, ANYthing.
And really only God can get us out of there cuz we haven’t got a clue.
We have no idea how to get ourselves out of the mess we’re in. No clue how to navigate this season of our life, and it can feel hopeless at times.
Sometimes God makes us stay in the dark a really long time.
Sometimes it feels like forever. We just want to get out. Our survival nature starts to come out of us and we just want out of the dark, out of the trial, OUT!
“Get me outta here, Lord,” we cry.
When I was in $30,000 debt, it seemed like there was no hope.
I’d never get out.
I’d never make it.
It was just too hard.
Year after year would pass and I was making so little progress.
It felt like I wasn’t even moving at all.
Maybe it seems like you’re in a pitch black hallway right now.
Maybe you’re not sure of your surroundings and don’t really know what to do at all.
You’re praying and praying and praying, but there aren’t any real, substantial answers you can go on.
You don’t know where to go or what to do and it all just seems so hopeless.
David felt like that too. He cried out to God in Psalm 86. From his prayer, we can learn a lot of how to deal with things when things are super tough. After all, he was physically running for his life from Saul, who was chasing him on foot!
He eventually got out of the problem and you will eventually get out too.
Eventually we get to the light at the end of that hallway. We can see. And things are normal again.
I got out of that $30k debt. I started making more and more and more until I was making really GREAT money. Step by step, little by little, year by year, accomplishing my goals and doing really well. But I was in the dark for a while.
What we learn in all that, is to not only trust God when the lights are on and everything is normal and great, but we learn to trust God when all the lights are OFF as well. When things don’t make sense, when everything is pitch black, when we don’t know where to go or what to do.
👉 If it’s pitch black where you’re at….are you trusting in Him?
Are you clinging to Proverbs 3:5-6?
Have you decided to go wherever He leads you, even if it may not be what you necessarily want?
This week, I’ve let go of a couple very important things to me and I honestly just feel SO MUCH better. So much more free. I was entangled and I didn’t know it until God showed me.
Is there something you’re holding onto that you need to let go of?
I’d encourage you to join me and let go of our OWN plans and trust in God’s. His plans are far better (Jeremiah 29:11)! 😊
