Several weeks ago I was studying Psalm 142 using a wonderful devotional by Nancy Leigh DeMoss entitled “A 30-Day Walk With God in the Psalms“. I was beginning to become more aware of the intense loneliness that these past few months have brought and it was if the Lord was bringing those emotions to the surface to deal with my heart in new and fresh ways. As I read David’s cry to the Lord to be near to him in his own season of loneliness something began to resonate within my heart that came to a head as I read and began to answer the question posed in my devotional…
“How can times of loneliness benefit you?”
Let me be honest, I scoffed at that question and thought “Ummm, excuse me Miss. DeMoss but… ummm, never. Times of loneliness are never a good thing.” And then as I got out some strong emotions stirring inside of me, I began to really wrestle with that question and ask the Lord what He had for me in this season of loneliness. And the answer was as simple as it was clear… “Himself”. This is what David discovered time after time in seasons of great darkness in His life and this is what I began to discover in our journey with Sophie, but have only recently begun to grasp more fully. A week or so later, we sat across from our Pastor and he asked a simple enough question “How has this journey with Dasah been different then Sophie?”. I looked at Kevin and tears started to brim at the corner of my eyes as words began to pour out, slowly, thoughtfully, bringing together thoughts that were only beginning to form in my heart, into words on my lips. “It has been more lonely, it has been more difficult, more isolating… and YET, while God began to teach us more of the celebration of life with Sophie, Dasah’s story has become less about her and more about God. With Dasah, in the midst of the loneliness and sorrow, God has brought more of Himself into focus, that He is WORTHY of our lives, WORTHY of our praise no matter the pain, heartache, sorrow or joy in our lives.” As our pastor probed a little deeper and heard us speak more, he said “While Sophie’s story taught you how to celebrate in grief, Dasah’s story is teaching you how to suffer in grief and both hold equally beautiful truths of God that your daughters are teaching you.” While it is not as though we do not have people entering into our lives and story and are still very much celebrating Dasah’s life together, it is just different and this time around what we need is different and the very nature of grief and sorrow and suffering is often a lonely experience. So, our pastor asked us “What would it look like for people to suffer with you, and for you to press into the loneliness and ask God to meet you there?” And while we still don’t know the answer to that question, one thing that has continued to come to mind is the reality that often the greatest treasures are discovered in the darkest of places. You see, in 40 days, on November 13, 2014 Dasah Brielle Dennis will be born (via c-section… unless of course she decides to come early), and having walked this road before with Sophie there are many emotions raging in my soul as I look ahead to the joy of meeting her and the sorrow of knowing apart from God’s miraculous intervention “good byes” may come far too soon. So, I thought I’d begin a journey over the next 40 days of studying people in the Bible who have found themselves in places of loneliness, isolation and darkness and see what treasures of God’s character were discovered in the lonely places.
And my invitation is for you…
to invite you into my journey of searching for hidden treasures in perhaps your own season of darkness, whatever that may be. Each day I will post a devotional of my thoughts on the passage I was in, the person I was studying and the little treasures I have found along with questions to help you unpack it for yourself and list a passage for the next day. I don’t promise anything hugely profound but I know that God’s words are “living and active” and “never return void”, and that the treasures He stores in our hearts each day will produce fruit in abundance. So join me on this treasure hunt… I look forward to hearing what treasures He may have for you, and what treasures He may have for me!
Tomorrow’s passage: David in Psalm 23
- A Time to be Silent and a Time to Speak - October 29, 2020
- Teaching Them to Hope, Birthday After Birthday. - January 15, 2020
- A Taste of Hope Fulfilled – Briella Dawn’s Birth Story - August 3, 2018
