The Shack by William Paul Young has recently inspired me to better my walk with the Lord by putting my full faith in Him. Although this concept may not sound as difficult, I believe putting it to action is the most difficult thing in the Christian walk. In the book, Young talks about a man who goes through this Great Sadness in his life. Overtime you realize that this overwhelming emotion in his life is the loss of his youngest child. Obviously, this loss is a great burden in his life and later he ends up giving this burden to Christ.
Recently in my life I guess you could say that a burden has been lifted off my shoulders. I gave something to God that had been tying me down for too long. After I gave it to Him, it hurt a little, but God gave me peace of mind about it. Letting go of this burden did not mean that I couldn't pick it up again though. And I did just that too! I picked it up again, carrying as if it were my own and that's when I began to crumble back down into this dark state again. Have you ever been in a dark room? And by dark I mean, you can't even think about what daylight looks like and the darkness is just swallowing you. You can literally feel the darkness. That's the state that I'm talking about. The state of complete despair and hopelessness. Here's the thing though. Just when you want to give up, hurt yourself even more than you're hurting, or shut off entirely to the only Light in your life; you see it. The little flicker in the distance. The voice in the darkness that causes you to be at peace and be still. That soft, quiet, humble, yet powerful voice.
If you didn't catch it, that voice was God's. That Light is Jesus. He is the Light unto our paths we tread. He is the hope we have when all else fails. He is the peace inside our hearts that keeps us from fighting with ourselves to do something stupid. He is that still, small, beautiful voice.
Whether your Great Sadness be a loss in the family, an emotional struggle, an inward spiritual battle or a physical insecurity; let Jesus take your burden at the cross. He already paid the costly price to make that un-needed pain go away in your life.
Let God, be The Great Happiness in your life.
