Hope in the Darkness

Today's mini message of hope brings out the essence of Reflective Hour. As we sit in the darkness, may we unveil His Light of Truth and be transformed and renewed in mind, body, and spirit. The truth of His Word sets even the most oppressed, depressed, and hopeless free. I am a living, breathing example of the Word working in and through my life because of the mercy and love of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Focus on the light rays of hope, and refuse to fall into the abyss of darkness.

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Transcript

Hello, I'm Tammy Toney-Butler with Reflective Hour.

We welcome you today to sit with us and reflect on the Word of God as it's living and breathing, alive, like never before.

I am a living, breathing example of His love, mercy, and the change He wants to do in your lives. He wants to transform you, to bring you out of the darkness and into His marvelous light.

I was reflecting this morning as I often do and looking at the scriptures because Father speaks to us through His Word.  I was looking, you know, at the King James version of Luke 1, and it just spoke to me, and when I was looking at Luke 1:79,

"to give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace."

And when we look at that in the New Living Translation, the NLT, we look at that same verse. And it says, well, let's start at verse 78.

"Because of God's tender mercy, the morning light from heaven is about to break upon us, to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, and to guide us to the path of peace."

God's Word is our light in the middle of the darkness.

I would often sit in the bathroom, huddled with my Bible, finding comfort in the pages of the Bible, the words, the scriptures, and the promises of God. I begged Him to save me and take me out of that horrible place I was in. The darkness threatened to consume me and overtake me, but through His mercy and grace, I rose above all that. I realized He was with me even in those dark times, even when I couldn't see Him. 

America is facing dark times. The world is facing dark times. They're in dark times. We have to be ready. We have to be the watchman on the wall. We have to be strong and steadfast, surrounded by His mercy and His love, and remain children of the light and refuse to be carried away with the darkness.

We have to trust in the Lord Jesus. We have to trust in the light and let the light guide us. We can't focus on the dark. We can't focus on the darkness of the hour. We have to focus on the mercy, the goodness, and the hope.
 
I am a living, breathing example of His hope. I was dead before He set me free. I was walking in darkness, shrouded in darkness,  rebelling, refusing to see Him, to heed His warnings.

He did such work in me. The Holy Spirit filled me up, and I've never been the same. I repented of all my sins and asked Him to come into my life and guide and transform me, my heart and mind. So I'd have the heart of Christ and the mind of Christ so I could see the truth, experience the truth, speak the truth, His truth, His Words. 

As I sit and reflect on the goodness of Him, the glory of Him, the freedom of the cross, and how He set me free, I have to glorify Him, praise Him, and exalt Him. Yes. Dark days are ahead. We all know it. Look at the sin around us. Look at the conditions of the world. Look at our poor brothers and sisters in Israel and all those around the world caught in conflict zones. All the oppressed, all the depressed, and struggling with mental health issues and poverty. Spiritual poverty, emotional poverty, physical poverty, and those just struggling to get by. 

Poor in spirit but rich in faith. 

I'm poor in some areas of my life, as some would say, and I'm so rich in others. If I do nothing more than this hour, this time we have together, this reflection point to point you to His marvelous light, I've done my job. Let this be a beacon of hope, a podcast of truth, a way into your soul to speak life and freedom, to break chains, to break addiction, to break the lies of the past.

Let this be an unveiling. Let this be a removal of the shrouding so you can see the truth —a beacon of light on a dark, dark hill. Stay strong. Stay focused. Do your devotions. Look for Him. He will guide you this hour. He will be with you. He's your righteous right hand.  Follow Him, His goodness, His mercy is great. His love for you that surpasses all understanding.

He's my Comforter, Redeemer, Best Friend, and Advocate. I had nothing before He set me free of the shame, the guilt, the fear, the regret, the self-loathing. I hold Him as my anchor, my cornerstone. I focus on Him and keep my eyes only focused on Him. The truth, faith, faith in things that we can't see but know exist.

He's there. He's living. Reach out to him. Stretch out your hand. Ask Him to come into your life and heart to set you free, guide, keep, and protect you. Let His blood cover you. Let no shame, no words of the past destroy what He is trying to build inside of you: a fortitude city, a fortitude wall of hope in a dark, dying world.

His merciful grace will see us all through. He is our hope. He is our life. He is our light.

Bask in His presence. Let Him heal you. Let Him guide you. Let Him strengthen you. Focus on Him and not the storm. Peter could walk on water until he focused on the storm.

Hold steadfast. Let Him be your anchor in dark times. He will see us through. He's got you tucked under His wing.

Let this be a mini message, His message of hope, of His redemptive power. He set me free, and he can set you free; you don't have to walk in darkness. You can move towards the Light,  move towards the Light; it's time now. Stretch out your hand for healing. Seek Him. He is the only thing; Christ is the only thing that set me from childhood trauma, the aftermath of sexual assaults—a violation of my mind, body, and spirit.

The body does "Keep the Score," as the book says, and trauma does affect us, but we don't have to dwell there. We don't have to live there. We can come out of that, move past all of that, and step into freedom as you've never known where that heaviness is lifted off and broken. Those chains of bondage are broken. Those trauma soul ties are broken. That yoking with the darkness is broken. 

You are now free to walk as children of the light. Walk free this day. Walk in His glory. Walk in His mercy. Repent and turn towards Him. It's time. 

Thank you. May His grace shine upon you and all you do today, and His light keep you. May He guide you on that narrow path of righteousness for His namesake.

Thanks so much for joining us for Reflective Hour with Tammy Toney-Butler.