How To Get Out Of The Black Hole: You Are Not Alone

Vidoe transcript below

I don’t know if you have ever faced something, some event that makes you feel like you are in a black hole, but man, you don’t have to have somebody die to feel the kind of trauma and despair and loss through something like a divorce or loss of your profession. Maybe you’re going through the rigors of cancer treatment, or you have a child who’s walked away from the Lord. Maybe you’re a single parent and you’re just struggling with the frustrations and just flat out exhaustion of being the only person, where the buck stops with raising your child or your children, right? And, man, it can take you to a place where you just feel like you’re in a vast black hole. You’re alone. You’re inadequate. You feel inadequate, you feel insecure, and you’re just dominated by unhealthy emotions.

The fact is that all of us either have been, or at some point will be facing the cruel realities of life. And, we need to know, we need to have a plan, that takes us out of the black hole of despair. And, you know, it’s one thing to know, and we should know, that God does have a better plan for us. But it also, we need to take that a step further. We need to not just know that God has a plan for us, but we need to experience him walking through it with us. And to do that, we need to experience Jesus. 

This idea of the black hole and how to get out of the black hole was actually inspired by a sermon I listened to by Lon Solomon. He used the example from the Gospel of Luke about the encounter the two men had on the road to Emmaus. And this was a time where Jesus had been crucified, and he was, you know, all of his followers were like, where is he? Everything we had, we’ve put our hope in everything we had, we’ve trusted and everything we’ve lived for these last three years is gone. And they didn’t know what was going to happen next. And so I think it’s definitely worth reading this encounter to kind of dig into this whole dialogue of how do we, how do we experience Christ walking with us through the black hole and taking us to the other side. 

So, Luke Chapter 24 verses 13-32, we’re just going to read this. It says, 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 that while they conversed and reasoned that Jesus himself drew near and went with them, but their eyes were restrained. 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 man whose name was Cleopas answered and said, are you the only person in Jerusalem? I’m adding a little bit, and you don’t know the things that have happened there in these days? And Jesus said, what things? And so they explained 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 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 they’d also seen a vision of angels who said he was alive. And certain of those who were there with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said, but him, they did not see. Then Jesus said to them, Oh, foolish ones and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken, ought not Christ who have suffered these things and entered 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 he would’ve gone further, 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 one to another, did not our heart burn within us while he talked with us on the road. And while he opened the scriptures to us.

See, this is so interesting to me that here they’re in this place of uncertainty, despair, anxiety, like what had their whole life been about the last three years, right? This person they hoped would redeem them and rescue them from their Roman oppressors had vanished. And now his body, even his body was missing, right? But Jesus comes alongside, he meets them where they were, and in the aftermath of his crucifixion, and they were in great despair. You know, they were listening to him and walking with him, and it says their hearts were stirred at his words because of his presence. See, this is where I think that a lot of people, when we’re in the great black hole, we like to recite the promises of God, which is a good thing to do. It’s good to know the promises. You know, I will never leave thee, I will never forsake thee and all the things that God promises us in his word. But it’s really another thing to let the presence of God walk through the black hole and walk us out of it, right? 

And so how do we do this? You know? Because if, well, first of all, if we’re not born again, that’s going to be the first thing. You have to be born again. Because when you’re born again, your soul and your spirit are made alive in Christ. You have the ability to have the mind of Christ. And, so we have to remember that that’s the first thing, okay? We have to be born again. And if you don’t know how to be born again, my website explains how to be born again, all the, I hate to say the mechanics, but just the ins and outs of what that looks like, to surrender to Christ. And then you also have to, if you’re born again, you need to surrender to Christ. And that involves surrendering your heart. This is heart obedience. This isn’t just the mechanics of, oh, obey the 10 Commandments. No, it’s about having a relationship with Christ. So how do we enter into our relationship with Christ in such a way that we know that in the midst of despair and of anxiety and insecurity, that we are not alone. That he is right there in the black hole with us. How do we do that? And what does that look like? 

Well, I think first of all, we need to remember that Jesus had, he’s already walked through it, okay? He suffered more than we can fathom. You know, in Hebrews Chapter Four, it says, we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but is in all points, all points, tempted as we are yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly before the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. So we’re in this black hole, we’re feeling weak and exhausted, angry, guilty, sad, lonely, robbed, desperate, maybe all alone. And we have a savior who meets us where we are, just like he did with these men on the road to Emmaus. 

You know, despair is probably one of the scariest experiences I’ve ever had in my life. To think that I’m all alone, to think that there’s no one, that not even God is with me, that is a terrible, terrible experience. And, it’s why I think a lot of people commit suicide. A lot of people just spiral out of control into drugs, alcohol, abuse, whatever type of addiction, because of despair. And, you know, I think that King David understood this when he wrote Psalms 23, which we’ve all read, right? He wrote how to, he wrote the recipe for despair. He says, yay, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil. I will fear no anxiety. I will fear no trouble. I will not have despair, because, what’d he say, thou art with me? In other words, I’m not walking alone. The greatest and the blackest of black holes can be so different for the believer because the born again believer has the ability to be surrounded by the presence of a living savior. And you know, if you know that there is someone who really cares about you, someone who is strong enough to guide you, to carry you, to comfort you, knowing this, knowing God is with you, means you don’t have to be afraid. It means the pain you’re going through has a purpose. It’s not some random, horrible thing that’s happening to you. Because we have the ability to pray and ask the Lord, Lord, you are with me. Now, glorify yourself through me in this circumstance. And so, what do the mechanics look like? How do we get to this experience in the black hole with Jesus Christ? How do we learn to have such a great sense of his presence? Well, I mean, there’s some really basic essentials. 

First of all, we need to discipline ourselves. We need to discipline ourselves to pray and to read God’s word. We need to hide God’s word in our heart.

And second, we need to be in the habit of being honest with God. We need to tell him exactly how we feel. You know, the Bible reminds us in 1 Peter 5:6-7, 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. When we humbly admit we can’t handle our own problems, then we’re in a position not to tell God what he doesn’t know, because he does know.  But to admit that we’re desperate, we can’t handle it, we’re falling off the edge. We are opening up ourselves so that he can come in and fix the problem.

And then the third thing we need to do is transfer all of our pain to him. God wants us to. Jesus said His yoke is easy and his burden is light, and he can handle it. He reminds us in Philippians 4:6-7, be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your request be made known to God and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding,will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

So after we hand off our pain to God, we replace the pain. We allow him to replace that pain with his peace. And how do we do that?  Through thanksgiving. We thank him for the circumstances. The circumstances won’t necessarily change, but what changes is our heart. We change. We change ourselves in the circumstances. So God can take us through the circumstances and we know he’s there. 

When we are in the type of circumstances where we are starting to feel like we’re falling helplessly out of control. That’s the time that we need to remember these things. That’s the time we need to start giving things. And we know the way, we know God’s presence is with us, is when despair is replaced by peace. Because we have humbled our heart. We’ve given him the problem, and we’re not taking it back. And then we start thanking him. Lord, I thank you that I’m alive. Lord, I thank you that for all the things that are going right, I can talk. I can think, I can breathe. I have a job. I have people who love me. You love me. I have salvation. You know, and then what happens as we talk through and become more thankful, what God does is he takes our despair and he exchanges it for peace. It doesn’t mean the problem goes away, it just means we change. The circumstances may not change, but we change. We have a winning attitude. We have a thankful attitude. We are not in despair because God is not in despair. And when his presence comes in and takes over during the problem, we experience a peace that surpasses understanding. It’s inexplicable, it’s joy unspeakable and full of glory. 

And then our circumstance, rather than producing despair, produces an opportunity for us to say, look what God is doing right now. I was in despair, and now I have hope. And despite the fact I’m going through cancer, despite the fact I’m going through a divorce, despite the fact I’ve got these crazy kids and I don’t know what to do with them, despite the fact, whatever the circumstance is, we can say, God’s got my problem. He’s carrying my problem, he’s carrying me, he has taken my despair, and he’s replaced it with his peace. And you know what? Whatever happens it’s in his control. The problem’s not mine. It’s his, right? And so, it’s really amazing. 

And this process though, has to become a habit. It’s not a one-off. We live in a sin torn world and pain is part of our life. But even in the black hole, God can make our life burn with the presence of his peace. And you know, that’s what Jesus did on the road to Emmaus. And you know what? He’ll do it for you as well. He’ll do it for me. He’ll do it for you. Where we will know that we are held in the hands of Jesus. And man, we need this today. We need this in the world we live in. If you are, if you’re suffering, you know, think about these things. Try to apply these things. Make them a habit. Hide God’s word in your heart. Confess your fears, and give everything to Christ and start thanking him. He will change. He will change what’s inside of you.

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