The water is clear and safe in the shallow end. The deeper it gets, the darker it gets, until you can’t reach the bottom. Then it’s sink or swim.

Somewhere in the Pacific Ocean, the earth falls away into the Mariana Trench, nearly seven miles down. So deep, sunlight has never reached it. The pressure so strong that none could survive there.

Looking into a well, light fades into darkness long before it reaches the water.

There is depth.
And it is dark.

But nothing like the deepest corners of a heart, broken by
Great loss.
Greater struggle.
Constant failure.
Sin that won’t let go.
Inadequacy.

There is depth.
And it is dark.

You grasp, and scrape, and climb only to find you haven’t moved.

The walls are too steep.
The darkness too thick.
The distance too far.

And the worst part is knowing you dug some of it yourself.

Memories of the light are but a childhood dream fading into the mist like a vapor.

You hear a voice calling from the depths. You’ve lived so long in the darkness you don’t know how to listen for anything else.

Yet there is another voice.
One you knew long ago.
One Who could never forget nor forsake you.

Where can I go from Your Spirit? Where can I flee from Your presence? If I go to the heavens, You are there. If I make my bed in the depths, You are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there, Your hand will guide me, Your right hand will hold me fast. Psalm 139:7-10

There is no distance too far that the Hand of God cannot rescue you.

There is no stain so dark that the blood of Christ cannot cleanse you.

There is no cry so deep that the Heart of God cannot hear you.

Seek the Lord while He may be found; call upon Him while He is near. Isaiah 55:6

Peter began to sink beneath the crashing waves and cried out, “Lord, save me!”

Jesus immediately reached out His hand and took hold of him. Matthew 14:31

Immediately.

The Hand that pulled Peter from the waves can reach deeper much deeper as deep as you have fallen.

Father, I pray You will gather the hearts lost in the darkness and draw them back into Your loving arms.

Amen
Even the Deepest Darkness is not too far from God...