Bad memories, worries, anxieties, fears. They are like haunting spirits. Sometimes they are there when you awake, even before you get out of bed. When you lay down at night troubling thoughts roll through your mind like waves in the ocean. Even in sleep there is no escape. You are like a hamster on his little wheel. Round and round you go with your problems, trying to find escape or solutions and getting nowhere. You stand in the dark shadows, looking at others. The sun is shining, the birds are singing, children are laughing and playing. You see others who seem to be enjoying life, but it all eludes you.        The darkness in your mind might be because of a temporary valley you are going through and you will come out of it in time . At other times it might be that you have lived for months or even years under this canopy of gloom with ever-present heaviness in your heart. There seems to be no escape. Depression and negative thoughts paint each of your days and nights with shades of gray progressing to black.        God says He loves you (John 4:10) and thinks of you continually (Psalm 139:17-18). He daily bears your burdens (Psalm 68:19) He has called you out of the darkness into His wonderful light (1 Peter 2:9). He says He causes all things to work together for good for those that love Him (Romans 8:28). And Jesus says that He came to give you abundant life (John 10:10).        God's Word is full of wonderful promises. It is full of hope. If you won't read it and spend time in it, then you will probably continue to live in darkness. But if you will begin the habit of reading God's Word and meditating on its meaning and conversing with Him, the healing, life-giving, blessed light will begin to flood your heart and your mind. Jesus said in John 8:12, "I am the Light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life." In another place (2 Timothy 1:7 KJV) we read, "For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind."        Review: Take steps to turn from your darkness to the Light (Christ). Read and study God's Word, especially the New Testament promises and the Psalms. Trust Him as your Savior and Lord, and trust Him to do what He says He will do. Then, "…whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable--if anything is excellent or praiseworthy--think about such things" (Philippians 4:8). Close the door to yesterday with all its bad experiences and trust God with tomorrow.       "Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own" (Matthew 6:34). Dale Carnegie called this living in "day-tight compartments."        "Yesterday's gone and tomorrow may never come, but we have this moment today."*        *We Have This Moment Today" by Bill and Gloria Gaither        Copyright Daphne Harrington 2000