By Benescke Janse van Rensburg

[Background: A reader who herself is a widow and single mom, yesterday sent an e-mail in which she told that her life feels dark and as if the pressure and responsibility of being both mom and dad for the children is taking its toll. She furthermore wrote that she feels as if God has forgotten about her and that she does not know how long she can still take the pressure. Do you also feel like this reader today? Trapped in a dark season of your life.]

It was pitch dark in the woods. With every sound a shiver shot down the 13-year-old boy's spine and he had to fight against the desire to flee to the nearest town for safety. Fear prevented him. Also potential embarrassment to stand as a failure in front of his tribe when the sun rises. It was a custom in his tribe that boys would spend the night of their thirteenth birthday alone in the woods. If they managed to do it, they would become a man.

At daybreak the next morning the boy saw a man on a rock a little distance away. It was his father who, with his gun in his hand, stayed up all night guarding and protecting him from any possible danger.

The same goes for us during dark, fearful situations in our lives. They might come in the form of a divorce, a loved one committing suicide, depression, a financial crisis, unemployment or a situation in which responsibility threatens to overwhelm us. In such situations we too desire to flee to people for protection. However, the truth is that God is much closer to us than we anticipate, guarding and protecting us. In Proverbs 15:3 we read: "The eyes of the Lord are in every place. . .” Also in Hebrews 4:13 we read: “Nothing in all creation is hidden from God's sight.”

Even though the enemy tries to sow havoc in our lives, God will never allow anything that we cannot handle. In 2 Corinthians 12:9 He said, "My grace is sufficient for you. My strength is made perfect when you are weak.” And in Jeremiah 31:25 God promises: “I will help the tired ones and give strength to everyone who is weak.”

Let’s put our hope in God in the darkest seasons of life, knowing that He would never leave nor forsake us. When the first rays of sunlight in the form of our breakthrough appears, we might too, just like the boy in the woods, look back and realize that God was with us the whole time protecting and guarding us. God bless.

Father God, thank You for never leaving nor forsaking us. Please help me in every dark season in my life to draw closer to You, knowing that you are much closer to me than I think or feel. I ask this in the Name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

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