That obeys the voice of His servant,
That walks in darkness and has no light?
Let him trust in the name of the Lord and rely on his God.
Isaiah 50:10
This verse is from a Messianic passage in Isaiah 50, where God's chosen One is speaking. Therefore, I'm going out on a limb and interpreting "His servant" to mean Jesus.
I find this verse very comforting -- it seems to acknowledge that a person can fear and obey the Lord, but still sometimes get very lost and depressed.
He gives the solution:
Let him trust in the name of the Lord and rely on his God.
If this came from someone who hadn't struggled and suffered, it wouldn't mean much. But no, this is from the mouth of the One who was trained to sustain the weary.
The foundation of this training was intimate discipleship. Morning by morning, the Father awakened the Son's ear to listen as a disciple.
I can only imagine what else learning to sustain the weary must have involved, but I know (because we can only minister meaningfully in areas where we ourselves have been broken) that it sometimes must have involved becoming exhausted to the core.
Eventually, it involved willing submission to brutality, so that by His obedience, the weary might be sustained.
The Lord God has given Me the tongue of disciples,
That I may know how to sustain the weary one with a word.
He awakens Me morning by morning,
He awakens My ear to listen as a disciple.
The Lord God has opened My ear;
And I was not disobedient
Nor did I turn back.
I gave My back to those who strike Me,
And My cheeks to those who pluck out the beard;
I did not cover My face from humiliation and spitting.
For the Lord God helps Me,
Therefore, I am not disgraced;
Therefore, I have set My face like flint,
And I know that I will not be ashamed.
Isaiah 50:4-7
Thank You, Lord Jesus. Not only for suffering all these things so that we might go free, but for providing me today with this picture of how You Yourself lived. And for saying out loud that it's not a sin to feel lost and in the darkness -- it's a stepping stone.