Being a person of faith doesn’t make us immune from experiencing dark moments and seasons. We all face hard times due to loss, change, hardship, illness or countless other things. We may feel a deep sense of meaninglessness, as if nothing makes sense anymore—the light has dimmed and darkness has engulfed our soul.
Recently, a former co-worker shared with me that he is currently going through a dark time in his life and has been for a while now. He’s faced disappointments in his personal life, and they continue to weigh him down. There are days where he feels sad and angry. Just like my former co-worker, Mother Teresa, too, struggled with her own dark time. She once wrote to her spiritual director, “I am told God lives in me—and yet the reality of darkness and coldness and emptiness is so great that nothing touches my soul.”
We may feel as if God has abandoned us, but just know that He never leaves us. We can embrace these dark times, not fight or run from them. They can serve as great learning and growth opportunities and help us discover a new direction and purpose for our life. They may even deepen our faith and understanding of the Divine Presence in our lives. No matter what we feel or think, God is always with us and much closer than it appears.
