Desperate in the Darkness by Lisa Burkhardt Worley

            And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. (Romans 8:28)

            God speaks to me in threes. When I get a similar message several times from the Lord, I take notice and begin to ask, “What am I supposed to learn from this?”

            This week, I shared Romans 8:28 with a friend, but then the very next day, a different friend shared the same verse with me.  That night, it came up again in my spiritual reading.  God was speaking to me and reassuring me that all things work for the good of those who love him…

            I will confess I had been in a low place when I received that encouraging word. I wasn’t thinking all things were working together for good.  Our ministry team had come off an incredible ten-day trip to Arkansas and Tennessee. We saw God work through us in numerous ways, reaching women at all the venues and in between. But for me, coming off the mountaintop experience was not a slow descent; instead it was a dramatic, fast moving spiral downward. Within a day, I found myself flat on my back in the valley looking up, feeling misunderstood and wondering what happened.

            A book I’m reading called Secrets of the Secret Place by Bob Sorge shed some light on why God was allowing a time of isolation and despair.  Sorge says that “In His kindness, He dries up every other fountain that has nurtured your soul, that He might become your only fountain in the quietness of this (prison) cell.  It’s here you will learn to own the reality of Psalm 87:7, All my springs are in You. Instead of being energized by projects, you will now become energized by a Person.  Being with Him and in Him will become your criteria for success.”

            God wanted to take me away from all the projects and all that nurtured me so I’d be desperate for Him.  God wants all of us to be desperate for Him.  He allows darkness so there is no other place to turn.  In Matthew 10:27 Jesus said, What I tell you in the dark, speak in the daylight; what is whispered in your ear, proclaim from the roofs.

            When we find ourselves in these one-on-one encounters with God in the darkness; when we feel like there is no one else to turn to, there is spiritual growth and there is sweet fellowship with our Father in Heaven.  These are the places where devotions are written, where sermons are composed, Bible studies put together and truths learned so they can be shared. What is whispered in your ear, proclaim from the roofs.

            So as I cling to the One who created me, I am thirsting for direction from Him and drinking only from his spring. Sorge says while in the wilderness God “will comfort you with His presence, and He will renew your affections for His goodness and glory. It is here, in the pain of loneliness and aimlessness, that the Lord designs to ignite a love relationship like you’ve never known.  Before you were too busy to find it or care about it.”

            Yes, I am understanding now how all things work together for good. In this stroll through the valley, I am forced to look up.  I have been desperate for my Father and He has provided for me.  He is a loving God who gave me a gift of encouragement through His Word.

I am in the valley but I am not alone because God is with me here and there is light in the darkness.