And the earth was without form and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. (Gen 1:2)

It’s difficult to imagine beauty in the midst of great darkness, but that is exactly what God is asking us to do in our own lives and the lives around us. We are to rise up and overcome great challenges and set backs that have left many hidden in pits, trapped in webs of deception and even locked away in prisons or our own mental cells of hell. Anyone that has come out of those circumstances can tell you that there was a time when they didn’t see any light or way of escape, and it is in that moment that all seems lost and hope has departed.

Out of desperation, people grasp in the darkness for something not…