I drove along a curved coastal freeway as the sinking sun reddened the glassy ocean in the distance. Darkness engulfed my soul as evening closed in. I had nowhere to sleep that night except in my car, an embarrassment to drive around. A massive dent I couldn’t afford to fix marred the passenger side door.
Sad memories piled into a hopeless heap like my belongings slumped in black plastic trash bags in the back seat. Years of chaos and dysfunction had worn me down. I felt lost in a world of people who seemed to have it all together: jobs, college degrees, a home of their own, solid relationships—none of which I had. The ease of taking my life taunted me. No one would miss me if I drove off the freeway’s edge.
I barely noticed the rumble strips warning me to pay attention as I negotiated the curve. Suddenly, the ringtone from my cell phone jolted me from my daze, and I swerved back onto the road. A friend discerned I was not okay. He offered to put me up at a hotel for the evening so I could rest.
Shifting my grip on the steering wheel, I steered away from contemplating the worst and toward sleep instead. Crawling into bed with puffy eyes, a light shining through the blinds of my pitch-black hotel room caught my attention. It was as if hope in the form of light reached between the gaps to remind me that no amount of suffering could darken my life enough to prevail against God’s plans for me.
Jesus is the creator and sustainer of our lives. He gives us the illumination we need because darkness exists. We need to see things as they are. Darkness will never overcome the light of Jesus.
God loves us so much that when He foresaw the sin and suffering that would darken and distort our lives, He chose to create us anyway because He wants us and has a plan for us. Some of our greatest blessings emerge from hardships that threaten to detach us from what holds us back from freely loving Him. There will be a time when He will wipe every tear from our eyes, and we will live pain-free. Until then, He will use the troubles that have infested our lives to transform us into the person He created us to be.
Don’t let hardships hold you back from freely living and loving Jesus.
Brandie is an award-winning author, speaker, and devotional writer. Her most notable work is a children’s book, Garden Tales: A Seed’s Story. She is a contributing devotional writer for Christian Devotions and VineWords: Devotions and More. Brandie is the founder of The Write Place and president of the Charlotte Word Weavers chapter. She is also a member of Hope* Writers and the Society of Children’s Book Writers & Illustrators. She and her husband have been married for over fifteen years and live in North Carolina with their three young children, two of whom are Irish Twins. They spend a lot of time on baseball fields and at horse stables and enjoy playing games. They also enjoy family trips where they can bike ride on the beach or explore the mountains.