You don’t have to be facing the death of a loved one in life to hit a black hole. You can be going through any kind of trauma like—divorce, loss of your profession, cancer treatment, a child who has walked away from the Lord, or the demands and frustrations and flat out exhaustion of being a single parent. Have you ever felt like you’re all alone in a vast black hole? I sure have. If you haven’t, then it’s likely you’ve just not lived long enough. The loss of anything dear to us can leave us feeling very alone—struggling with feelings of inadequacy, insecurity and dominated by unhealthy emotions.
When we are facing the cruel realities of life—we need to know more than that God has something much better FOR us—we need to EXPERIENCE Him walking through it WITH us.
To get out of this black hole, we need to experience Jesus. But how? Well, consider the followers of Christ after His crucifixion. They must have been feeling like they had been abandoned and all hope was gone. In fact, Luke wrote of an encounter by two of them as they were walking on the road to Emmaus:
“Now behold, two of them were traveling that same day to a village called Emmaus, which was seven miles from Jerusalem. And they talked together of all these things which had happened. So it was, while they conversed and reasoned, that Jesus Himself drew near and went with them. But their eyes were restrained, so that they did not know Him. And He said to them,
‘What kind of conversation is this that you have with one another as you walk and are sad?’
Then the one whose name was Cleopas answered and said to Him,
‘Are You the only stranger in Jerusalem, and have You not known the things which happened there in these days?’
And He said to them,
‘What things?’
So they said to Him,
The things concerning Jesus of Nazareth, who was a Prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, and how the chief priests and our rulers delivered Him to be condemned to death, and crucified Him. But we were hoping that it was He who was going to redeem Israel. Indeed, besides all this, today is the third day since these things happened. Yes, and certain women of our company, who arrived at the tomb early, astonished us. When they did not find His body, they came saying that they had also seen a vision of angels who said He was alive. And certain of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said; but Him they did not see.’
Then He said to them,
‘O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken! Ought not the Christ to have suffered these things and to enter into His glory?’
And beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, He expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself. Then they drew near to the village where they were going, and He indicated that He would have gone farther. But they constrained Him, saying,
‘Abide with us, for it is toward evening, and the day is far spent.’
And He went in to stay with them. Now it came to pass, as He sat at the table with them, that He took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them. Then their eyes were opened and they knew Him; and He vanished from their sight. And they said to one another,
‘Did not our heart burn within us while He talked with us on the road, and while He opened the Scriptures to us?’”
Luke 24:13-32
Jesus met them where they were—in the aftermath of His crucifixion. And although they were two ordinary guys, the BIG difference was they had the ability to connect with Him because they had been born again. Further, they were wide open to a relationship with Him. How do we know this? Well because their hearts were stirred at His words. His WORD was their source of truth and His PRESENCE gave them supernatural hope in the darkness. The despair of hell could not touch their redeemed soul because—they belonged to Jesus. Those who are not born again don’t have this kind of hope—until Jesus lives within them.
My friend, we will ALL have trouble—it is inevitable—and not based upon the condition of our soul.
None of us suffer exactly the same, so it’s difficult to find anyone who can empathize with us to the degree that we need comforting. But Jesus gets it. His suffering was greater than we can fathom.
“For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” Hebrews 4:15-16
When we’re in the black hole and feeling weak, exhausted, angry, guilty, sad, lonely, robbed, desperate, and maybe all alone—we have a Savior who meets us where we are! I have struggled with each one of these feelings, and I’m sure you have too. Despair is one of the scariest experiences of life. But in Psalms 23, King David wrote about how to handle despair: “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil for Thou art with me…”
In the greatest and blackest of black holes the difference for the born again believer is the ability to be surrounded by the presence of our Savior.
It means there is someone with you, someone who really cares about you, someone who is strong enough to guide you, carry you, comfort you. Knowing God is with you means you don’t have to be afraid. There will be an end to it. Knowing that God is with you means your pain has a purpose and it’s not random or happenstance. No one can take away our ability to pray, “Lord, YOU are with me, glorify Yourself through me in this circumstance.” When we recognize God’s presence in the black hole and we hide His Word in our heart, Jesus stirs our heart and gives us peace, comfort, hope, and even joy. But how do we learn to sense His presence?
There are some essentials that we must have in order to prepare for the black holes of life:
- We must discipline ourselves to pray and read God’s Word.
- We must be in the habit of being honest with God and tell Him exactly how we feel. The Bible reminds us to:
“HUMBLE yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time, CASTING all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.”
1 Peter 5:6-7
We must humbly admit we can’t handle the problem ourselves. It’s okay to tell God we’re hurting, we’re desperate, we can’t handle it, we’re falling off the edge. Opening up to God isn’t telling Him anything HE doesn’t already know, but rather it’s opening up ourselves so that HE can come in and fix the problem.
- We need to transfer all our pain to Him. God wants us to. Jesus said his yoke is easy and his burden is light. He can carry it. He can handle it. He reminds us to…
“Be anxious for nothing, but in EVERYTHING by prayer and supplication, with THANKSGIVING, let your requests be made known to God; and the PEACE of God, which surpasses all understanding, will GUARD your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”
Philippians 4:6-7
- After we hand off our pain to God, we need to allow him to replace that pain with His peace. The easiest way to complete this transfer is through heartfelt thanksgiving. As we thank Him, the CIRCUMSTANCES may not change—but WE will change. God realigns our attitude within HIS purpose—which is to glorify Him.
The mechanics of this transformational process are inexplicably wonderful. Humanity can’t comprehend the “how” of this process. Perhaps that’s why the Bible says the “peace which surpasses all understanding” will “GUARD your HEARTS and MINDS through Christ Jesus.” While it’s a fact that sometimes we must go through the process over and over again—God didn’t put a limitation on how many times a day or an hour or a minute we can do this. It works.
This process must become a habit. It must be our first response to the black hole. We live in a sin-torn world and—pain is part of our life. Even in the black hole, God can make our life burn with the presence of His peace. This is exactly what Jesus did for the two guys on the road to Emmaus and—He does it for us if we will open our hearts and let Him in!
*This devotional was inspired by a sermon by Lon Solomon.
We would love to hear your thoughts about this devotional. Did God speak to you or challenge your daily walk with him? Or is there a topic that you would like Kimberly to cover or expound on? Please share with us in the comments below.
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2 Responses
Fantastic Devotional thoughts!
God cares for us and he WANTS that close relationship!!
YESSSSSS!!!!!