Cry Out to Jesus
For the last few years I’ve felt relatively close to the Lord and was very much in touch with my faith. This is so easy to get used to and take for granted. Having feelings of consolation consistently is awesome. Feeling the presence and grace of God in the day to day is great. It is easy to have faith in these kinds of periods of life. In these circumstances, we grow accustomed to having God around and having this joy that transcends all things- all situations and all stresses.
But we all inevitably have periods of desolation. These are harder times where faith is more difficult and God’s love for you is a little less tangible. The stressful things get the best of you and any little thing that goes wrong can ruin your day at the drop of a hat.
For the last few months I have been feeling this way. It didn't come on at one time, but there was a slow creep into the desolation. Even when I prayed and went to daily mass it was hard to feel close to Him. When we get into times like this, it is so crucial to keep having faith. To continually remind ourselves that the Lord is love and that even though we may not feel it, we've felt it before and He NEVER changes. He is the same today, yesterday and forever. We can absolutely count on Him.
One of the most important lessons I have learned and relearned from times of desolation are to not rely on yourself to get out of it. When you find yourself in a mental or spiritual rut, it is easy to start thinking of all the things YOU can do to get out of it. I start to think of the books that have really moved my heart and inspired my faith, the prayers I’ve prayed, songs listened to and places visited. I quickly become engrossed in doing all the things to move myself back to consolation. But the truth is, this place I get stuck in is like a really deep hole with vertical sides. No matter how much I try to claw my way out, the dirt will just come down with me. Now imagine that there is someone up top that has a rope ladder that they can throw down to you (that person is Jesus). In order to get help from this ladder, you have to humble yourself and admit that you can’t do it on your own. You have to surrender yourself and be completely in the hands of the other person. You have to trust them because they can just as easily drop the rope ladder and you’d fall back into the hole right where you started. What would you do? Would you keep trying on your own and only relying on yourself, letting your ego rule. Or would you put your life and safety in the others hands?
All of this is to say that the way out of the hole of any desolation is simply to surrender to Jesus. When we utter His name and cry out in surrender and desperation for help, He comes running. He floods us with love and care and carries us back to himself. We are reminded in these moments that it’s never been about our efforts but always been about Him.
Now I’m not saying that its as simple as calling out to Him all the time and then we’ll be permanently out of desolation because that is not true. It is always about His timing and we know that His will for our lives is amazing and He’s preparing us in ways we don’t understand. However, it will most certainly never be our own strength and power that gets us out of that place and into a new light.
Therefore, don’t get discouraged in times of desolation. Don’t get yourself stuck and exhausted in the hole by using all of your energy to try to hoist yourself out with your own power. Let Jesus help, I promise He is the way out and He will surely help you.
Pray: Jesus, sometimes I feel so far away from you. I easily get down when I am in times of desolation. I am sorry for when I try to use my own strength to get back to you. Today and everyday I choose to surrender to you. I cry out to you and I know that you will bring me back to you. There is power in your name… Jesus. Amen
But we all inevitably have periods of desolation. These are harder times where faith is more difficult and God’s love for you is a little less tangible. The stressful things get the best of you and any little thing that goes wrong can ruin your day at the drop of a hat.
For the last few months I have been feeling this way. It didn't come on at one time, but there was a slow creep into the desolation. Even when I prayed and went to daily mass it was hard to feel close to Him. When we get into times like this, it is so crucial to keep having faith. To continually remind ourselves that the Lord is love and that even though we may not feel it, we've felt it before and He NEVER changes. He is the same today, yesterday and forever. We can absolutely count on Him.
One of the most important lessons I have learned and relearned from times of desolation are to not rely on yourself to get out of it. When you find yourself in a mental or spiritual rut, it is easy to start thinking of all the things YOU can do to get out of it. I start to think of the books that have really moved my heart and inspired my faith, the prayers I’ve prayed, songs listened to and places visited. I quickly become engrossed in doing all the things to move myself back to consolation. But the truth is, this place I get stuck in is like a really deep hole with vertical sides. No matter how much I try to claw my way out, the dirt will just come down with me. Now imagine that there is someone up top that has a rope ladder that they can throw down to you (that person is Jesus). In order to get help from this ladder, you have to humble yourself and admit that you can’t do it on your own. You have to surrender yourself and be completely in the hands of the other person. You have to trust them because they can just as easily drop the rope ladder and you’d fall back into the hole right where you started. What would you do? Would you keep trying on your own and only relying on yourself, letting your ego rule. Or would you put your life and safety in the others hands?
All of this is to say that the way out of the hole of any desolation is simply to surrender to Jesus. When we utter His name and cry out in surrender and desperation for help, He comes running. He floods us with love and care and carries us back to himself. We are reminded in these moments that it’s never been about our efforts but always been about Him.
Now I’m not saying that its as simple as calling out to Him all the time and then we’ll be permanently out of desolation because that is not true. It is always about His timing and we know that His will for our lives is amazing and He’s preparing us in ways we don’t understand. However, it will most certainly never be our own strength and power that gets us out of that place and into a new light.
Therefore, don’t get discouraged in times of desolation. Don’t get yourself stuck and exhausted in the hole by using all of your energy to try to hoist yourself out with your own power. Let Jesus help, I promise He is the way out and He will surely help you.
Pray: Jesus, sometimes I feel so far away from you. I easily get down when I am in times of desolation. I am sorry for when I try to use my own strength to get back to you. Today and everyday I choose to surrender to you. I cry out to you and I know that you will bring me back to you. There is power in your name… Jesus. Amen
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