Our dreams and desires aren’t always what is best for us, and God knows this.

I was going through one of the most heartbreaking seasons of my life, a time when I could scarcely think, let alone come up with spontaneous prayers. Yet I was praying, showing up day and night in a posture of depending on God, leaning on words that have been said for centuries.

Wandering in the darkness without believing in the light, the light of Christ, can leave us burdened. We might even throw fits ending in meltdowns. But while we have the light of Christ leading us to believe and become sons and daughters of that light, darkness fades. We know where we are going.

Isaiah 42:16 tells us that although we may face the unfamiliar, the dark, and the rocky, God never leaves us. His guidance, presence, and light will always be with us. He promises that we will experience Him in the challenging paths of life.

It can become easy for the Christ-follower to become overwhelmed by an evil agenda or the sin struggles that plague our generation. What if, this advent season, we become overwhelmed by the Light instead? What if we carry our light with such confidence that those in darkness begin to long to experience it, too?

Our world is desperate for light and life. Can you hear it in the political conflicts, relational fallouts, and quest for status? People have an unquenchable desire to be lit up with something that will endure beyond their years, to be fulfilled, to know that they matter. You are carrying what may feel like a measly flame, but it is backed with all of the power and love of the Savior.

Reminding myself again and again, sometimes several times per day, of God’s unchanging character gave me hope in my messy divorce. My faith has grown tremendously in my divorce recovery, and God has truly been my secure anchor in the days, weeks, and months that followed the original trauma.