I love all seasons but it's something special about Spring. It's another new beginning after the New Year. Yet, this time you're preparing for all the activities that come with more warmth. This is more so if you live on the East Coast, where I am. I look forward to seeing flowers bloom and the grass go green. I enjoy the sound of the birds outside the window. Ahh, I can already feel it! :)
For me, Spring brings new clients as well. Before I begin working with a client, I have a consultation with them, which is a brief phone call. This call helps me to get to know the person a bit, what they are struggling with, and discuss how I may be able to help them. In having these calls, I’ve noticed somewhat of a trend. In many of the calls, one way that women describe how they're feeling is feeling ‘in a dark place’. Most women I speak to are already Christian. They are seasoned Christians, or I should say that they've been Christian a long time. They aren’t spiritual newborns.
One may think that because someone is Christian, they can’t be in a dark place. I’m here to tell you that many are. They are my clients and some soon to be. They are women sitting in church every Sunday. They are women reading their bibles. They are women who proclaim Amen and Hallelujah daily! Yet, they describe themselves as being in a dark place. Even as Christians, they are searching for something that they can't even truly define at first.
How they detail their dark place varies at first. It could be a challenging relationship, loss of a loved one, a stressful job, or lack of income. The face of it all is different. However, it dives deeper into a feeling of being lost, unfulfilled, depressed, or stuck. But when we look to the Lord about it and dive in even more, it is Spiritual Emptiness. Somewhere along their path, they’ve lost the light. They felt that they were just hanging on by a thread. They were looking to find a way through the maze of their individual life path and felt alone doing it. In some ways, they were also jaded in how they understood God's Promise for their life.
With all the things that women are required to do to keep the balls of life in the air, it’s easy to one day find yourself in a dark place. I heard on the news yesterday that the levels of anxiety in America are really high. There are many people getting treatment for anxiety disorders. It was even more disheartening to hear that suicide rates are rising as well. There are many in a dark place. The world is looking for The Light.
As Christians, it’s not that we can’t get to a dark place but it’s knowing WHO we can turn to in order to get out of it. We have a WAY! We have the light Himself! There’s nothing like Jesus who can pull us back into Himself. I work with women to pull them into or back into relationship with Jesus. A relationship promises a life of light and ongoing transformation. It comes with hope and the fruits of the spirit. It comes with life and life more abundantly! It comes with love, peace, and a promise of a better future. Some people need that personal touch and support to get back to where they were and/or get to where they’re supposed to be. They need to feel acceptance and hope again. They need to be ushered back into His presence! I was in my own dark place, which I’ve told you about many times. It was Jesus who brought me out. Every day, someone finds the light of God and find their way back to His light.
Why am I mentioning this? There are many Christian women who are in a dark place right now. They’re going to church and/or bible study and doing Christian-like things. They’re saying Amen and Hallelujah and not authentically feeling these words. These acts have become habit for them. They’re constantly encouraging other people but aren’t encouraged themselves. They struggle with faith and whether God exists. They haven’t had any change or transformation in their life in a long time. They are spiritually empty. They can’t remember the last time they’ve been really happy or if they deserve to be. This should not be! How can we appropriately give light to non-Christians who are in a dark place? How can we bring them to Jesus if we have our own dark place?
If this is you or you know anyone who feels this way, don’t let it get pushed under the carpet thinking one day it will just go away, especially if it’s been a long time. You need to run to where the Power of God is. If you’ve been in a church for a long time and in a dark place, there is no Power there! Find support! Don’t be afraid to get support whether it’s counseling, therapy, or coaching. Many Christians don’t get help because you're under the assumption that God can only help you through the church building. So, you wait in the pews and the years pass you by. It's easy to be convinced that it's not that bad because it's more of an emotional pain than a physical one. However, your emotions are just as vulnerable and sensitive as your body. Your emotions is the body of your heart.
The light of Jesus is everywhere! His Power is in the Light. You must run towards the LIGHT by any means necessary. Go where you see Power and people Transforming! Then get filled so you can become the Power and Transformer for others, in Jesus Name!
The more you stay in a dark place, the more the devil smiles. Your dark place is another lamp gone dark for the Kingdom. Fight for your Glow! Honey, fight for your Glow!
“For you were buried with Christ when you were baptized. And with him you were raised to new life because you trusted the mighty power of God, who raised Christ from the dead.” Colossians 2:12