Beneath the boulders,
I am with you.

I see how heavy they are,
how trapped you feel,
how powerless you are to escape this burden.

I am with you
as you peek through the cracks into the light
and wonder what sunshine would feel like on your forehead again.

I am with you
as you struggle
against the impossible weight placed upon you,
as you finally stop fighting and surrender
into the reality of your tomb.

I am with you
as you turn inward,
searching frantically through your being for a different kind of Light –
in the only place you have access to.

I am here with you, in you, and all around you –
shining and waiting for you
to work your way
through the depths of your humanity
into the priceless awareness
that is worth all this cost and more.

It is valuable –
this time you spend in the darkness,
grappling with your limitations,
and gradually coming to the only peace
that can’t be shaken.

As the dust settles
on this wild ride to nowhere,
you will find the freedom
you are searching for,
and you will be light enough to rise up
with me into a life beyond your wildest dreams.

John 1:5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

Isiah 41:10 So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.

Life is good, and God is good, but it doesn’t always feel this way.

When we find ourselves in a deep pit, buried alive by the troubles of this world and powerless to find our way out of them, we can grow into a deeper awareness of the only thing that really matters – God’s infinitely loving presence all around us.

In our good times and in our struggles, there he is shining all around us, whether we can feel his loving presence or not.

As we work through our emotions through hard times, we can let go of so many interior burdens and attachments to arrive at a deep peace, which transcends understanding and can only be a gift from God. As we experience our own powerlessness, we can come to realize our dependance on Divine providence.

I imagine that those, who lost a loved one in the recent school shooting in Texas are buried alive in horror and grief right now. Those feelings are real, raw, unescapable and understandable, but that doesn’t mean the Lord is not with them, surrounding them with love, and pouring infinite graces of strength and perseverance into them, beckoning them to hope in the promise of eternal life and the mysterious peace only God can provide.

“In this world you will have trouble, but take heart I have overcome the world.”

If you are feeling trapped in painful life circumstances right now, I encourage you to hang in there! God is with you every step of the way even when it doesn’t feel like it. Keep searching for His presence in your heart and around you, and He will deliver you from all evil in His perfect timing, which we may never fully understand on this side of heaven.

Lord bless those, who are burdened right now. Life can be so brutally, unthinkably hard. Help us to realize your infinitely loving presence with us at all times. Help us to truly believe you “work all things for the good of those, who love you,” and give us the grace to truly love you with all our hearts, above all things and stay open to hope, even when life feels hopeless. Help us to be a loving presence for others, who are burdened by trauma today. Help us to be living signs of your great love to those, who are most in need of a reminder that you are worth trusting in. Strengthen us to do your will and reach those, who are in need in a way that helps them believe in you. In Jesus name, we pray. Amen.

written by Nicky Gant for http://www.uniteinprayer.org 5/31/2022