Today’s post is a study of an analogy for a well as it can represent our mood when things go dark.
Sometimes life seems to be just such a drag. Everything seems like a burden. Simple tasks seem like you are trying to climb a mountain. Depression can set in. Frustration at every turn. It is easy to fall into a well of despair where it is dark.
The enemy loves the dark. It is where he can hide and ambush us. In the dark we can’t see straight, we don’t know what is up, down, or sideways. The light of the Lord can fade because we are so focused on the dark that we don’t see the light. Life seems darker and darker. We fall deeper and deeper into the well of despair. We lose focus that the light is indeed still there. The voice of the Lord fades because we get ourselves into a place where we can’t hear. It is when we get in this state that is is easiest to drift away from the Lord and the enemy starts to dominate our lives.
I know you’ve been there. We all have. We don’t always know the precise moment we start to fall into the well but we know where we are when we get to the bottom. The question then becomes, what do we do?
The first thing to do is to take a look around. Do you see the walls of the well where the walls represent what is confining you from leaving or is the bottom of that well so dark you can’t even see them. When you look up do you still see a glimmer of light that is the Lord or are you so far down that you just can’t see? We know that we need to get out of the well and back to the light but what in the world can we do?
Once we know just how deep we are we first need to cry out. We are in that well and all there is around us is cold and those stone walls that we can feel but maybe can’t even see. Cry out to the Lord. “Father, I have fallen into a dark well and I need help. Please rescue me.” If God is in your heart (and it is in us all) he will help! We only need to look for the help he gives us. You see, at the bottom of the well there is a little dry patch. On that little dry patch is a match. Look for the match, feel it. Strike the match against the cold stone. In that instant of striking the match there is light. Hold the match, use it to look around. The Lord heard your prayers and gave you the tool to start your journey out of the well, back to Him.
Now you can see around you with just a simple match. That little match allows you to see the stone walls and now you see that in the corner is another dry patch. Your continue to pray to the Lord for help and you realize that He has placed some nice dry wood there. Use the match to light the wood. Now that cold dark well is starting to get warm, and you can finally see. The wood burns brightly and with warmth. The Lord is rewarding you for your faith.
We have light and warmth and we can see the walls. The walls are made of stone but look at that stone. There are some gaps in between the stones and maybe, just maybe, we can get hand holds and foot holds.
So we start to climb up those stone walls and we realize that as we go farther up, the walls start to even out. The walls start to become less steep. It becomes easier and easier to climb. We keep praying and asking for help and now we can see that there is light above us. A bright, warm, beautiful light. We now can hear birds chirping and can feel the warmth of the sun. We keep on climbing and climbing and the walls become more and more flat to the point that we are walking up a hill. We realize it wasn’t a well we were in, it was like a funnel. The shape becomes so clear now!
We finally step out of the top of that funnel and look around. The world is bright. God is right there, running to you with open arms, loving you just as he always did. He is so happy with you that you kept your faith, said your prayers, and used the tools He gave you. Your prayers and faith brought you out of that dark place and now you are free again!
In this analogy the funnel is representative of the wide road that leads to destruction. It is so easy to take that wide road and let ourselves get to a dark place. I want you though to realize that the darkest, coldest of places can never take you too far from the Lord. There is a way.
Find the match. Light the fire. Climb the walls. Find your way back to the Lord and realize that he never left you. He was always there and will always give you the tools to find your way back to him.
