A surprising number of believers have found themselves in a place of tremendous wounding, grief, and loss, even struggling with thoughts of suicide. Faith has been shaken and the light at the end of the tunnel has all but extinguished.

That wounding has been deepened through the abandonment or insensitivity of the usual support system. Rather than finding the compassionate Good Samaritan (Luke 10:33) who is proactive in healing and support, many find only “Job’s comforters” (Job 16:2) admonishing the bleeding and broken to just get over it and get back to living. There is a time to grieve and while none of us needs to prolong that state, the severity of some blows takes longer for recovery, even hospitalization.

As a friend pointed out to me a few days ago, “Remember that despair, depression, fear… and a number of other spirits are laying heavy upon the nation.”

You are not alone.

The Word says we will be shaken, tested, and tried. However, God’s intention is not that we be destroyed, but that we come through purified, refined, and responding more like Jesus, “a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief” (Isaiah 53:3). It was Jesus, after all, who commended the Good Samaritan for tending to the hurts and needs of the hurt man.

God never wastes anything.

As an intercessor said to me, “If He didn’t stop it, He will use it.” It may be difficult to see how God can use the troubles we may have experienced. Yet, trusting Him in the dark and confusing times is all part of living by faith. There is treasure to be found in darkness.

“And I will give thee the treasures of darkness, and hidden riches of secret places, that thou mayest know that I, the LORD, which call thee by thy name, am the God of Israel.” ~ Isaiah 45:3

You may not get all the answers you want, but every difficulty is another chance to find out who the Lord is and to find out who you are.  You can get past it.