This week, someone I care for very much is going through a dark valley. As we talked, I realized I had nothing to offer, except Christ. But often when a person is in that state, thoughts of God are difficult to accept.

Later, Laurel emailed me this devotional from D. Martin Lloyd-Jones.

There is but one cure for the ills of man… When my conscience accuses me, there is but one thing I know of that can give me rest and peace.

It is to know that Jesus of Nazareth, the Son of God, who bore my sins “in his own body on the tree,” has forgiven me. It is to believe and to know that because He loved me and died for me, I am clear of accusation. Then, conscious as I am of my weakness and failure and my lack of power to live a life worthy of the name, I am again driven back to Him. It is only from Him and the power of the Holy Spirit that He imparts that I can be made more than a conqueror.

As I contemplate meeting my Maker and eternal judge, my only hope is that I shall be clothed with the righteousness of Jesus Christ and that He will take me by the hand and present me “faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy” (Jude 24).

It is always and only in Christ that I find satisfaction.

It is only in Him that my problems are solved. The world with all its methods cannot help me at the moment of my greatest need. But Christ never fails. He satisfies always and in every respect. The more I contemplate Him, the more I do agree with Charles Wesley when he said:

Thou, O Christ, art all I want:
More than all in thee I find!

He still remains the only hope for individual man, the only hope for the whole world.

Is the Gospel still relevant? It alone can deal with and solve the problems of man.

Only when we grasp and cling to the sufficiency of Christ can we escape and remain free of the dark night of the soul.

Today, take a few moments to pray for ones you know who are struggling in darkness.