What does the darkness make you feel? Alone? Scared? Wondering where the light is?
I’m not talking about darkness that is evil but darkness that brings loneliness and quietness.
Sometimes in our walk with the Lord, His voice can seem very quiet and very distant. We know all the right Scriptures. We can say all the right answers and yet there are times in our lives that God seems so very far away.
For me, my relationship with God has been my constant strength. His character, His love, His truth is what grounds me. Yet, there have been times in my life when He seems so very distant. Honestly, I struggle with this. My thoughts begin to go everywhere and I wonder “where He went.” Recently during a silent, dark period, a fear began to envelop me – really it was more like desperation. What did I need to do to get His attention … what had I done for God to have removed Himself? My thoughts went everywhere and the darkness began to envelop every part of my mind and heart.
And yet the “aha” moment slid in through a simple Scripture I have read a thousand times…the Scripture that has become my life verse.
I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.
Ephesians 3:16-19
There are so many powerful truths in this passage but what really struck me this time was the word “rooted”. In order for a tree to be strong and fruitful, its roots have to grow deep into the soil and find it’s nutrition in the life-giving water. I began to think about the season I was in. The silence seemed desperately dark and I had two options… either curl up in a ball and fall over or spread my roots deeper into the dark “soil” until I found my source of life. My “aha” moment came when I realized God was strengthening me for a future harvest. He was pushing me to go deeper with Him, to expand my root system into new territory which will make me indestructibly strong in the midst of storms. I trust that in the darkness, He is training my root system to seek Him and learn new mysteries and obtain new wisdom that I will need for the coming days.
My peace comes as I trust His process. My strength comes as I stretch beyond my comfort zone and find nourishment in Him.
If you’re in a dark and silent time right now, know that the Lord has not left you. He is the ultimate gardener and knows that as you allow your roots to push through the dark “soil” moments, you will be made stronger, find more nourishment and your life will reap a beautiful and bountiful harvest. I pray that God will strengthen your inner being!
May we continue to live…
Rooted in Him,
