Morning Devotions with Chaplain Kenny - A Dark Place

A Dark Place

See, I set before you today life and prosperity, death and destruction.

~ Deuteronomy 30:15 (NIV)

It is sad indeed, when one comes to a place in their life, where a defeated spirit leads to despair. A state of hopelessness begins to set in, followed by a blinding darkness. People of all ages, and walks are subject to the claws of its trap. An elderly person, a young teen, a neighbor, a relative, a friend, or maybe even we, ourselves have come to this place of torturous despondency. We see no way out, but to end it all.

The first thing we need to be assured of, is that even though darkness is surrounding us, there really is light. We are just not seeing it at the present time. Think of it this way, in the middle of the day, we can go into the center of a large cave, and when the lights are turned off, there is complete darkness. We cannot even see our hand, when placed in front of our eyes. The reality is, our hand is there, we just do not see it. Also, only from our viewpoint, with the lights off, it is dark. If the current to the lights were switched on, there would be an illumination of light. Outside, it is mid-day. The sun is shining. That is the true reality.

The second thing is; we have options. Ending it all, is not our only way out. Let’s go back to the cave. A cave normally has many halls, rooms, canyons, chambers, etc. We may be at a chasm now. It looks like there is no way out, except falling into the deep abyss. When we look closer, we can see that maybe our other option is to chimney our way upward, until we reach another room. Maybe we need to scale down the wall, to find another room at the bottom. Maybe we need to go backward towards our starting point. Falling into the chasm, is not the only choice.

Thirdly, we need to understand a truth from a lie. We may think there is no one around who cares, but that is a lie. The truth is, inside our dark cave is love. There are others, even strangers, who would die, to save us. These unknown people who care, would be willing to cut the hole in the ceiling, to bring us to the one who can heal. They may be a friend, relative, doctor, psychiatrist, counselor, or therapist.

Jesus is the Great Physician. He thought we were worthy enough, to give His life for our benefit. There is no need for us to take our life, when the ultimate life was already given. The light of noon day, is standing right there, where we are, holding out His hand. We just need to reach out, and He will grab hold, moving us into the illumination of His love.

Our cave of hopelessness can be changed to light, love, peace, prosperity, life, and joy. God wants us to have these things, because we are precious to Him. He loves us so much. We only need to take one tiny step in the right direction. Choose life! The phone number to The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is: 1-800-273-8255.

Dear Father of Love, Bring us into the light of your love, and release us from our hopelessness. Amen

In Jesus,
Chaplain Kenny

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Scripture taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
We are not alone in the dark. The light of the world is with us.