Are you doing ok?

There’s something about looking up at a clear sky and feeling the radiant sun shine down on me that makes me feel fully alive. I’ve been addicted to it since I was a young girl. I was born with jaundice and to help me heal, my mom would lay me naked as a baby under the window in my family’s apartment to help me recover and get the unneeded bacteria out of my system.  

So now, 28 years later, I absolutely enjoy the sun rays beating down on my face while looking up to a clear sky… it feels like home to me. It’s one of my deepest forms of feeling God's love and comfort.  

But, what happens when life gets you down, you walk outside and the sun isn't shining on you like you thought it used to? ... or your clear sky doesn’t seem so clear anymore? 

I’ve been there and when I was, the only way I could get through it was to surrender to the only one that could help and guide me: not the sun, but the Son. The Son of God, Jesus. 

When I was in a dark place and my skies seemed crowded with everything but clarity, I sought the Lord with all I had. I didn’t have much but a weak prayer and desperate plea for help … and though things weren’t easy, He helped me walk through it… and as I kept coming to Him when the things that consumed me and seemed to bring me anxiety, He continued to walk me through them and eventually set me free. 

That’s why when I heard the song, Cranes in the Sky, by Solange, I couldn’t get enough of it. At first I didn’t know why, but then it hit me: 

The cranes she sings about are a symbol for ugly/unwanted things blocking what was once a clear view. You know, a metaphor for the mental struggles a lot of us face.

For me, it represented real circumstances that people hardly talk about, but have tried to tear me to shreds in the past. You know, those seasons where your mind feels almost tormented and darkness tries to keep you clouded.

So, I felt like this was a song I couldn’t just brush past. I had to share it with others who might be in that same darkness and dealing with heavy things: like depression, anxiety, and anything else that might be consuming their mind. 

If you’re dealing with depression, anxiety, suicidal thoughts or mental darkness — I’m here to encourage you: keep holding on… don’t give up… God has great plans for you and will never leave you to face your circumstances ALONE.

I'm not going to lie to you and say He will wipe away all your problems in a day; that's not the God I know. But, He always has a purpose as to why you're going through something. And most often, the purpose is to draw you closer to Him.

Instead of throwing in the towel and letting frustration knock at your door, call out to Him. If you want His help, He will give it to you. But, you DO have to let Him know you actually want His help. In fact, He enjoys helping you. You’re incredibly valuable and He is delighted to help you right where you are. 

This is my prayer for you in this season: 

"I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God." - Ephesians 3:16-19

If you’re close to giving up, don't. Instead, collapse in HIS arms… give Him all of you and He will be your strength. And, you know what? I pray that one day you will have walked through your darkness and then be able to guide others through theirs. 

Love you so much, 

Martay