Draw near to God – Day 3

[Background: A few years ago, a reader – who herself is a widow and single mom – sent an e-mail in which she said that her life feels dark. The pressure and responsibility of being both mom and dad to her children were taking its toll. She, furthermore, wrote that she feels as if God has forgotten about her and that she does not know for how much longer she can still take the pressure.] Do you also feel trapped in a dark season of your life, like this reader?

It was pitch dark in the woods. With every sound, a shiver went down the 13-year-old boy’s spine and he had to fight against the desire to flee to the nearest town for safety. Fear prevented him. Also, the potential embarrassment of standing as a failure in front of his tribe, when the sun rises. It was a custom, in his tribe, that boys would spend the night of their thirteenth birthday alone in the woods. If they managed to do it, they would become a man.

At daybreak the next morning, the boy saw a man on a rock some distance away. It was his father who, with his gun in his hand, stayed up all night guarding and protecting him from any possible danger.

The same goes for us during dark, fearful situations in our lives. They might come in the form of a divorce, a loved one committing suicide, depression, a financial crisis, unemployment or a situation in which responsibility threatens to overwhelm us. In such situations, we too desire to flee to people for protection. However, the truth is that God is much closer to us than we anticipate, guarding and protecting us. In Proverbs 15:3 we read: “The eyes of the Lord are in every place …” Also, in Hebrews 4:13 we read: “Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight.”

Even though the enemy tries to create havoc in our lives, God will never allow anything that we cannot handle. In 2 Corinthians 12:9 He says: “My grace is sufficient for you. My strength is made perfect when you are weak.” And in Jeremiah 31:25 God promises: “I will help the tired ones and give strength to everyone who is weak.”

Let’s put our hope in God in the darkest seasons of life, knowing that He will never leave nor forsake us. When the first rays of sunlight, in the form of our breakthrough, appear, we too, just like the boy in the woods, might look back and realise that God was with us the whole time, protecting and guarding us. God bless.