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It is dark in here

Imagine being surrounded on all sides, enemy forces about to tromp on you, fear mounting, despair permeating every fiber of your being. You may not realize how 'dire' the circumstances really are, but you know something has happened to change the course of 'good times' in your life. We all get there on occasion - sometimes by our own doing. We choose to compromise our lives with some 'little sin' that really isn't 'all that big'. Then we wonder why we find ourselves with mounting pressures and attacks. Truth be told, that 'little sin' let in a dump truck load of other temptations you might not have wanted to entertain, but now they are there. In those times when the pressures seem to be closing in, keep in mind one very important fact - God has not forgotten how much you need light in your life!

The Lord will bring me into the light, and I will see his righteousness. (Micah 7:9)

Sin has a way of creating 'dark places' in our spirit, affecting our bodies, and disrupting our thought life until we feel like there is likely no way out. Remember this - with God all things are possible - there is always a way out. We may not readily see it, nor do we have a clue what got us where we are right now, but God does, and he will walk us through those dark places if we give him the chance. The nation of Israel was facing much conflict, rulers within their nation were even a bit corrupt and not following the Lord as they should have. The pressures from neighboring territories were mounting and war was always imminent. How much pressure do we have to be under before we realize we need God's grace to get us back to a place of light again? If we are anything like Israel, we may need to go 'through' a few battles, feeling a bit 'beat up', before we finally acknowledge we have walked down a wrong path.

What we can never forget is that God stands at the ready to dispel darkness - to deal with sin, then to bring restoration to the sinner. God doesn't like operating in the realm of 'punishment', but sin has a way of beating us up. It is a consequence of wrong choices. Grace is the blessing of right ones! Restoration begins at the point of confession, but we must remember that confession is more than an acknowledgement of sin. It is a starting point for repentance - the turning away from that which brought the darkness in the first place. Just sayin!
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