Have you (Carli) had any seasons of your life that it was especially difficult to find God?
“I’ve had multiple seasons that are dark, hard seasons. But there is one in particular that I think of most. It was in my early twenties & I had never really dealt with doubt in my faith or depression. In this season, I doubted everything. It felt like this blackness washed over me and it was so hard to see through it. I felt like I was going to drown in it. But I accepted Jesus as my Savior when I was young & had walked with Him for all those years… but then I was questioning, does God even exist? Although I knew the right answer, my heart had feelings everywhere else. It was so difficult to find God in that season, but He ws the one who brought me through that.” -Carli
In Romans 15:13, God calls us to be hopeful. It reads, “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” Why is it important to remain hopeful in the Lord? What tips do you have for finding hope in dark times?
The world, your circumstances, and your life can suffocate you to the point where it feels like, how can I ever have hope that I’m ever going to get beyond this moment? The God of hope is the one who fills & knows us so that we may persevere through difficult seasons. The best thing about our God is that He is a God who provides the way and a light through difficult seasons.
You don’t have to figure it out yourself. He wants us to run to Him in those seasons so He can help us through those hard times. The most important thing to understand is that there will be times & circumstances when you won’t have hope in yourself or anything around you, but I can always have hope in God.
“In my darkest season (that Carli mentioned earlier) the one thing that got me through every day is that I still got up and read my Bible. I didn’t feel like getting up and reading my bible, but I knew I needed it. God used that time to draw me closer to Him & pull me out of my darkest season.” -Carli
In seasons of darkness, it can be so easy to run to worldy things for comfort–your phone, boyfriend/girlfriend/spouse, food, sex, alcohol, etc. Where are you going to find eternal comfort? JESUS! He is the one I can draw comfort from and the one I can receive hope from. Christ will always invite you into a relationship.
If you could give one piece of advice to every young woman, what would that be?
“Turn & follow Jesus. I can guarantee you that He is worth it no matter what is going on in your life. A relationship with Christ is so much bigger & better than what you could imagine it could be. Following Jesus is the only thing that will satisfy the deepest corner of your heart.” -Carli