The Dark Side of the Moon

John 1:4  In him was life; and the life was the light of men. 

Serious pain is a game changer.  Life becomes a different reality when hurting becomes the new norm.  Whether it’s physical, emotional or psychological pain, life redefines itself into unfamiliar categories.  Dark and worrisome thoughts beget fears which threaten to drag their victim into black despair.  At least that has been my experience the past few months.

Thankfully, I appear to be coming out the other side, but I’m left wondering in admiration at those who face serious pain every day and are still functional in life.  I couldn’t even find the mojo to blog during this time, so it’s good to be able to finally begin writing again.  I know that God somehow brings good from every experience we have.  I have struggled with why God sometimes doesn’t help those in pain — didn’t help me with my pain — even while I wondered what my future life might be like.

Trying to redefine one’s life in terms of pain is a dark place, or at least it has been for me.  The recent blockbuster movie, Transformers: The Dark of the Moon is the inspiration for the title of this post.  (Honesty Disclaimer: The article has nothing to do with the movie. I hoped to attract a few more readers to the blog by piggy-backing on such a popular phrase!)  Seriously, in thinking of imagery for where I have been emotionally and spiritually during this time, the lunar eclipse concept just somehow felt right.  When I saw the movie title, I also liked the thought of mixing the word transform or transformation into the whole batter.  To sum it up, I both believe and find experientially that God transforms me/us when we’re on the “dark side of the moon” when we can’t seem to see or reflect the light from the more sunny side of life.

Yet in spite of the danger of being overwhelmed with the wash of such dark feeling, God has somehow deepened my fellowship with Him and awakened something more spiritual within me.  It’s nothing short of spectacular how He can produce light where there is none.  I hope that anyone experiencing pain who may read this will hear that there really is hope beyond the dark.  I don’t fully understand how Jesus does this, but he manages to somehow draw us nearer to him in all these kinds of things if we will simply trust him while we’re in it.  I found a renewed nearness to God before any real relief began to present itself.  And it has been that nearness, that presence of God Himself, that has sustained me.