The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. (Jn 1:5 ESV)

There are times in our lives that can seem so dark and low and dreary that you start to think you will never see the light of day again. You feel like the whole world is just weighing down on you and life is nothing more than a chore that you have to go through day after day. Strangely, even those who are in Christ experience these low times - sometimes, I believe, even worse than non-believers. God seems so far away. But... we know that God is never farther away from us that a simple prayer or a word of Scripture. That really is a miracle of this thing we call the Christian life, isn't it? The fact that we can just cry out to our Creator and He actually hears us. Not only that, but He is eagerly waiting for us to do just that so He can respond with His incredible grace. That, I think, is what keeps me going sometimes - just the sheer marvel of God. Who He is. What He does. How He can love even the most vile sinner enough to want to turn him into a saint. No other religion or belief system can make this claim - that the God of the universe loves His creation and want to be in relationship with it. That is truly amazing grace.

Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person--though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die-- but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation. (Romans 5:1-11 ESV)