Trapped. It’s a bitter, suffocating feeling — like being buried under the rubble of difficult decisions. Discouragement presses heavily in, and before you know it, you feel stuck, surrounded by chaos that seems to block every hope of light.
Sometimes it was a wrong turn you made. Other times, the chaos stemmed from the choices someone else made. Either way, the weight is real, and the question comes: “What now?”
Here’s the truth you need today:
In your darkest and most difficult days are the hours in which the Holy Spirit creates the most remarkable life (Gen. 1:2). It’s in the struggle — not outside it — that God reaches the deepest part of your soul. You’ll experience a strength, a trust, and a reliance on Him that you never knew you could possess. Like a seed planted deep within the darkened soil of difficulty, far from the sunlight of normalcy and hope, it is there that authentic life sprouts anew.
I want to encourage you to look up from the heavy feelings that work to pull you into an abyss. Lift your voice to the One who forms children of light in the most adverse darkness. In the moments when feelings plague you, push against the dark and speak, “Jesus, I thank You for being with me.”
Your single shaft of thanksgiving will pierce the darkest moments when you intentionally turn your heart to the One who works in the night hours. When you whisper your humble thanks to Him, His response is a brilliant hope that will cause the daystar to arise in your heart (1 Peter 1:19).
When you choose to shift your feelings from despair to words of “Thank You, Jesus, for…”, you will find your soul moving toward His redeeming hope. When you call on Him, laying aside all pretense and frustrating expectations, His promise is to draw near (Jer. 29:13). Start with thanks, and you will find yourself in a place of freedom and gratitude.
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