Bonnie Peacock and her husband attend the First United Pentecostal Church in Odessa, Texas. Terry Pugh is their pastor. She is a freelance writer for various Christian publications. She also self-publishes The Pastor's PIT Crew for her local church and "First" Ladies which is sent to the ministers' wives of the Texico District and both Foreign and Home Missionaries. Inching along, it is difficult to see very far. All around are dirt, dust, and debris. Each day is a repeat of the one before.
“Is this all there is? Will things ever change? I wish I were something else somewhere else!”
Then darkness.
“I’m trapped! Where am I? What is going on?”
Searching first in one direction and then in another, the realization that there is no way out settles over a tired, weary mind. I knew it was hopeless! In time, the blackness becomes familiar.
One day, the unexpected occurs. A crack appears in the warm, familiar cocoon of gloom.
“Oh! What’s happening?”
Each hour brings a slight change. Encouraged to try again, unexpected strength supplies the force needed to push aside the walls that have held it captive for so long. Surrounded by brilliant sunlight, the amazing happens.
No longer just a caterpillar, now beautiful wings spread majestically on either side. Experimenting, they move.
“I can fly! I can fly!”
We know what lies ahead of the caterpillar we see creeping over the broken dirt in our flower bed and understand the temporariness of the time it will spend in the cocoon. But, do you realize that the caterpillar has no idea what is happening? It has no clue that an astounding metamorphosis is taking place.
We share this creature’s plight, we can only see what is happening to us right now. It will always be this way. Depression and discouragement can cloud our minds when life seems to be taking us nowhere. Broken dreams and disappointments leave us questioning all we believe.
Then darkness comes. And I thought it couldn’t get any worse! I can’t do this. Where is God when I need Him?
Unable to extricate ourselves from the circumstances that surround us, we are tempted to give up. Shrouded by blackness, and with no way out, we fail to realize that we too are about to soar.
God, help us to realize that while we are going about our daily grind, and even when storm clouds eclipse the sunshine, we are being changed. In fact, there is never a time when God is not working in our lives.
Slowly, He is developing our basic character traits. With the sandpaper of life, He gently removes rough, jagged edges that would otherwise cause us to harm others. God uses each situation we face to insert the ingredients He knows we need to be productive for Him.
Adding love here, revealing the need for peace there, and allowing trails and tests to work longsuffering into the fiber of our being. Even the dark times produce qualities of patience and humility that would never be developed in our lives otherwise. Remember, He is working it all together for our good. (See Romans 8:28.)
He wants us to succeed and prosper. He longs to be able to use our lives in a powerful way. All that is required of us is cooperation. So remember, when life is at its darkest, it may be just about time to soar!
“For I know the thought that I think toward you,saith the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of
evil, to give you an expected end”
(Jeremiah 29:11).