Then I said,

   "What are these, my lord?"

The angel who talked with me

said to me,

"I will show you

   what they are."

         Zechariah 1. 9

(How do we respond

      to troubling,

confusing,

incomprehensible

      circumstances?

Have we considered

  asking the LORD

  about this?

Or just struggle for answers

         on our own?

When we seek Him,

and not just an answer,

           God will show us.

Some things

    we will understand.

Some things

    we will not.

Even others

  will be shown,

  unfolded,

  revealed by the LORD,

unveiled in unexpected

      and unlikely ways.

What is the answer?

What is the way through?

"Trust Me in this.")

O LORD,

We are walking

    in wilderness places,

every one struggling

         with something.

Help us to know

  that the unknown

     is not unknown to You.

May we realize that

   even suffering is not

         unknown to You.

You provide a refuge

to which we can flee,

not in despair,

but in which

     to be strengthened.

You reveal

   not just reasons

            and answers

but reveal Yourself.

We see barren,

     lifeless territory

that stretches to the horizon.

Or foreboding deep dark woods

       with lurking beasts,

  both real and imagined.

But You, O God. are not limited

   by circumstances.

You change how we

            view the landscape,

            respond,

     and walk in its midst.

You change our hearts.

And most often that is how

   You show us.