Several hundreds joined the Think Twice newsletter this week - hey friends! I write reflections about the human experience and ordinary moments - many centered around parenting, disability, and the daily life of faith. I have five kids, am married to Darryl, work for a private family foundation, and am convinced that there is no randomness in your life and mine. There’s a specific purpose and calling for us here in 2022 and it’s worth our all to seek and live it. Glad you’re here! ~Kara
sunday thoughts [lights out]
“Let him who walks in darkness and has no light, trust in the name of the Lord, and rely on his God.” Isaiah 50: 10
I’ve had seasons when it feels like the lights have flipped off and I’ve struggled to understand why and was unsure what to do next. The plans stop, confusion fills us, and we start to feel very much alone.
Dark. And suddenly.
A fresh loss, a new diagnosis, a disappointing marriage, a painful failure, a hope still not realized.
But even (especially?) in these places, there’s an invitation. I’m not talking about silver linings, seeing the glass half full, or the things you’ll learn. Even if true, those are cold comforts when you’re sitting in the dark.
It’s in this vulnerability that God reminds us that He is for us.
Most religions and self-help gurus in the world at this point would offer ways to improve yourself or escape reality: 5 Best Ways to Make the Most of the Dark or Positive Thinking to Change Your Reality.
Oof.
That piles up more on an already heavy load. But listen to these words from Isaiah:
“Let him who walks in darkness
and has no light
trust in the name of the Lord
and rely on his God.” Isaiah 50: 10
God acknowledges our dark situation. God never sugarcoats reality, never trivializes pain, never gives trite answers. There’s relief in that. God sees the details of our lives, maybe ones that no one knows, the ones we’re too hurt/embarrassed/perplexed by. He acknowledges and responds to us.
The Lord recognizes our need for light. Instead of heaping up more to-do’s, God sees our need and provides a way to save us in it. He knows our limited ability, perception, and endurance. He points out our dependence, not to diminish us, but to complete us. As we believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, we grasp his hand, and he leads us in the darkness.
He tells us to trust in his name. He wants to be personally identified. God is not a force, a non-specific deity, or mystical energy but a specific triune divine being that made us and is intimately aware of the details of our very human and earthy lives. His salvation is specific and certain, his kingship is entire and eternal and he calls us to trust in him alone — personally, individually, and completely.
He invites us to rely on Him. God doesn’t tell us to try harder, but instead to rely on him. He has something we can’t give to ourselves. Are you without strength? Lean on the Lord. Do regrets rob you of your desire for life? He replaces regret with redemption. Too tired emotionally to scrounge up hope for tomorrow? Rely on the Lord to carry you along. The Lord Jesus gave his life for our salvation. And as we trust in him, we begin to live through Christ in the middle of the dark. The result? We become rooted, built up, established, and overflowing with thankfulness. Colossians 2:7 Life-changing stuff. And all in the dark.
This gives me hope. I’m not supposed to have the answer for everything and having confusion and disappointment in life doesn’t mean we’ve taken the wrong turn. This is life in a fallen world. But it’s here that the call comes every day, for the first time in surrender or repeatedly in dependence, to lean on the Lord, and live.
Vulnerability and dependence become the way to strength and confidence.
“And I will bring the blind by a way that they knew not; I will lead them in paths that they have not known: I will make darkness light before them, And crooked things straight. These things will I do unto them, and not forsake them.” Isaiah 42:16
Much Love,
Kara Dedert
poetry [what is a successful life?]