Incredible. Riveting. Inspiring. These are some the words that I thought of as I watched Chilean miners being painstakingly rescued one at a time after being trapped in a mine for what had to be an excruciating 69 days. As I watched the rescue unfold, I could not help but think  of how everyone experiences dark periods from time to time…of course, we may not be physically submerged in a mine hundreds of feet below the earth’s surface but we are having a valley experience nonetheless…

I wonder what the miners used to sustain themselves during this dark period of their lives…And what do we do when we experience the valleys of our lives…how do we cope? how do we sustain ourselves? what do we do to push through?

As much as I detest pain in any form, I have realized that God uses painful experiences to draw us closer to Himself and to grow in character and faith…a necessary evil at its worst and a prelude to blessing at its best if you let it be…I’m not Job as I have not had everything taken from me all at once with no explanation but I have had some trying times for sure…

I recall a particularly painful time in the beginning of the 2003…I had not had a job in my field for about a year and although I had managed to find a retail job, I was left without steady income again when the retail company suddenly shut down…My roommate who I had depended on to pay half of my bills moved out…My car broke down, and I did not have the money to pay for it to be repaired…

I did know what to do – except to turn to God for comfort and an explanation…And He did…I believe…In January of that year, I had had a mountain high experience…God had confirmed to me that my writing was my ministry through a synchronistic experience at church that New Year’s Eve…I felt like I had received my “marching orders” and quickly began working on my first book…

But by the end of that January after I lost the retail job, my roommate moved out and my car broke down, I no longer felt inspired to write – or do much of anything else for that matter…Since I did not have money to pay my bills, I simply stopped opening the envelopes with the bills in them (I would not recommend this if  you have mortgage.) My world became very small since I had no transportation…I spent most of my time at my home although I did not clean it for a long time since I was feeling so down…I started dating this wildly inappropriate guy that if I had been in my right mind, I would have run from…Lord help me…

That dark period went on for about two months…I must say the Lord had my back because nothing was turned off although I had stopped paying my bills and although my mortgage got behind, I did not lose my home either…But as I continued to seek God, although halfheartedly, He finally revealed to me what the deal was…One day, as I was searching the Internet, I came across a sermon that basically said that just like Jesus, when we have been given a ministry, we must go through a period of temptation and testing as Jesus did…As mystical as that may seem, I knew it was true…When God gives us a revelation, I think we have to be prepared for the devil to come to take away what God has told us…And as Jesus did during his temptation, we have to stand on the word of God and believe what He told us…even if we have been trapped in a mine…

Once I realized what was going on, I knew that I could cope with what was happening to me…And within a few months, everything that had been taken away from me had been restored…I got a job in my field that enabled to pay all of my bills without a roommate and my car was fixed. I began opening my mail again, and I finally cleaned up my nasty house…As a I write this, I wonder if people will think I’m foolish but the “foolishness of God is wiser than man’s wisdom.” (I Corinthians 1:25)

So how do I cope when feel like I have sunk into a mine and life has become dark and constricted…I petition God for an idea, a thought, a scripture – a glimpse of heaven when I am in hell – or what feels like hell…

I imagine the miners thought of their family and friends as the dark days ticked by…I imagine many of them prayed to God night and day to be rescued…I imagine that God revealed to them that although everything was dark around them, they would again see the light…

How do you cope during difficult times?

Any thoughts?

P.S. If you’re going through, the lyrics from “Open My Heart,” a song from Yolanda Adams’ “Mountain High…Valley Low” album maybe  just what you need…and the video of this beautiful song is also below…

Talk to me
Talk to me

Alone in a room, it’s just me and You
I feel so lost ’cause I don’t know what to do
Now what if I choose the wrong thing to do
I’m so afraid, afraid of disappointing You

So I need to talk to You and ask You for Your guidance
Especially today when my life is so cloudy
Guide me until I’m sure
I open up my heart, oh, yeah

My hopes and dreams are fading fast
I’m all burned out and I don’t think my strengths gonna last
So I’m crying out, crying out to You
Lord, I know that You’re the only one who is able to pull me through

So I know I need to talk to You and ask You for your guidance
Especially today, when my world seems so cloudy
Lord, guide me until I’m sure
I open up my heart, oh, yeah, yes I do

So show me how to do things Your way
Don’t let me make the same mistakes over and over again
Your will be done and I’ll be the one to make sure that it’s carried out
And in me, I don’t want any doubt, that’s why

I want to talk to You [Incomprehensible] and ask You for Your guidance
Especially today, when my world seems just a little bit cloudy
Lord, You guide me through that’s why I open up
I open up my heart, my heart, my heart, my heart

All I need to do is just hear a single word from You
I open, I open, open up my heart
Just one word could make a difference in what I do
Lord, guide me until I’m sure

I open, I open, I open, I open my heart
You just say one word, one word, one word, one word, one word
I open up, I open up, open up my heart to You, to You

You’re the lover of my soul
Captain of my sea
I need a word from You
That’s why I open up my heart

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