“How do you avoid repeating the cycle of despair?”
It’s perhaps the most insightful question we heard on our recent tour, and it came up several times. Like most really good questions, I’m not sure I had a simple answer.
Makes sense, though. When you describe a journey that resonates with so many folks, a journey through darkness and hopelessness, it’s natural to wonder how you manage returning to the darkness when things get tough.
For me, the answer is that I do return. The darkness still beckons, and the best I can do is limit my time in that horrible place. I find I do that by staying close to the basics.
You avoid falling back into despair by staying close to what got you out of it in the first place.
At the time of my injury I knew a lot about Jesus, but I didn’t really know Him. Depression eventually forced me to confront the reality that Jesus was more than a collection of stories and ideas. I realized that my true disability was spiritual rather than physical.
My life changed when I finally understood that He wanted a personal relationship. I made a heart connection that brought me to simple, life-changing principles.
Jesus loves me. Hope changes what’s possible. Hopeless is a lie.
I stay close to those things by writing. I write because I whisper in the fog and I know, deep inside, that no one but Jesus will whisper back. I write because it’s my way of bringing some measure of clarity to inner chaos.
Perhaps your way of staying close differs. Maybe you read or join a small group or serve in a special area. How isn’t important.
What’s important is staying close—to Jesus, and to the simple truths of unlimited, unmerited love and grace.
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