I awoke this morning to a world that felt very dark.  As I looked out the window I found my house shrouded in a dark, foggy mist. The weather seemed a reflection of the news that awaited me as I checked my phone. Twenty-six people are confirmed dead and another 20 injured in the Texas church shooting. 26 people gone. Another 20 maimed. And an entire town will never be the same.

How do we deal with this darkness?

I cannot explain this event or any of the other myriad of tragedies that have occurred this year. Shooting after shooting. Hurricane after hurricane. Friends dying of cancer and heart attacks.   Every sadness leaves the world feeling a little darker. A little more empty. I cannot explain the inexpiable. I can only offer how I have learned to cope. When times get really dark for me I have learned to do two things.

Stand in the midst of the Darkness.

Look for the Light.

When the world gets really dark it can be tempting to push away our fear, our pain, our sadness. We want to numb ourselves and escape the difficulty. I did this for many years until . . . one day I found the courage to stand in the dark and look at it with eyes wide open. As I did this something unexpected happened. I began to see little glimmers of light. It is true that in the darkest times light appears to shine the brightest. So I practiced looking for even the smallest lights in the darkness and letting them comfort me. A star in the night sky. A hug from my child. A kind word from the check out lady. Sometimes these tiny bright spots were enough to get me through the dark days. And as I practiced looking for the Light, it seemed to grow. Or maybe I just got better at recognizing it. This practice of standing in the dark and learning to see light brought something back into my life that I had feared I lost.

Hope.

As Hope began to heal my heart I found that a new thing happened. The light I had been searching for began to shine within me. If you are struggling with the darkness of a weary world or have lived through a particularly dark and difficult year, I humbly offer you a shimmer of light.   This devotional will take you on a 37 day journey where we learn to look for Light in even the darkest places. So that the darkness may be lightened by Hope. Hope that stems from drawing close to the One who comes to be with us even in the most difficult of times. To help carry our burdens. To ease the pain. To give us courage to not only stand in the midst of the darkness, but to point to and even shine the Light of our Savior. If your world seems dark today please know that you are not alone. I stand and pray with you. And I will remind you there is One far greater that stands with you to Lighten all our Darkness today and every day. Come Lord Jesus.  ]]>