There are times in our lives when life is just out of our hands, and we cannot anticipate, control, or direct the path away from the madness or malaise of life. Our path is out of our hands. We find ourselves lost, focusing on self, independent of God. But it is also the time we realize our dependence upon God is more than a thought or perspective. We are in a synaptic gap, and it is time to jump. How? We knowledge our dependence on our Lord and Savior and begin to focus more on Him than the problems. The jump requires complete faith in God’s outcome, whatever it is. Our dependence causes us to cry out to our Lord, and hand Him our situation, praying for Him to take over and lead us out into the light.

It is during these times we can be confident in knowing that God hears our prayers. He knew what we would go through long before He blew breath in our lives. He knew of our challenges, the directions we would take in life, straying off the path, the influences of others, poor choices, being in the wrong place at the wrong times, and thinking we are more than who we are.

“In this, you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.”
‭‭1 Peter‬ ‭1:6-7‬ ‭ESV‬. https://bible.com/bible/59/1pe.1.6-7.ESV

Given His knowledge of our existence, which He created, we should look to Him for love, peace through the storm, direction, and support. His love is greater than the things of this world, and when we begin to see the bigger picture through His lens, we can see hope even when we can barely see a glimmer of light in the distance.

Our Lord always provides directions to bring us and our family members through. These challenges may not evaporate the moment we begin praying, but they are heard, and everything occurs within God’s timing. Sometimes that feels very harsh, but in looking back through the stories in the Bible, we see desperate people in desperate situations come through storms that many cannot imagine. The distortion is so great we cannot see beyond the chaos and confusion.

The truth is, not all of our experiences are bright and cheery. There are seasons of gray, canceling out all of the colors on the color wheel of life. The reality is, that we are in a battle between good and evil, and not all things are bright and cheery. There is loss, devastation, annihilation, and setbacks, and yet we can hold fast because His people always bounce back according to His will and His ways. We survive the odds. He is the master of making ways out of no way. He brings light to darkness and quells the waves that well up in the storm.

“ The thought of my suffering and homelessness is bitter beyond words. I will never forget this awful time, as I grieve over my loss. Yet I still dare to hope when I remember this: The faithful love of the Lord never ends! His mercies never cease. Great is his faithfulness; his mercies begin afresh each morning. I say to myself, “The Lord is my inheritance; therefore, I will hope in him!” The Lord is good to those who depend on him, to those who search for him. So it is good to wait quietly for salvation from the Lord.”

‭‭Lamentations‬ ‭3:19-26‬ ‭NLT‬‬