DESPAIR

This is a blessing based upon Psalm 107

When it feels like you’ve wandered into a desert

Like you’ve lost your Google Map app

Like you’re hungry for more, thirsting after something more …

Anything but this …

When it feels like you’re in a funk

Or a deep depression

Like you’re a prisoner to suffering

Like work is one drudgery after another …

When you feel like you’re the most clueless person on the planet

And you’ve lost your appetite for everything

And life is worthless …

When it feels like you’re in over your head and going deeper

And, just when you thought you were on top of everything

It all came crashing down …

That’s when you give thanks.

It seems impossible, but it’s true, and it works.

However strong the struggle, fight your way into finding one thing,

Just one thing for which to give thanks.

The color azure, for example.

Speak your words of thanks aloud.

Trust me on this.

Slowly, very slowly, God will turn your desert into living water.

God will turn your suffering into joy.

Pay careful attention to how God shows up in your pain, and in your praise.