An Oasis Within

After a very trying time, a dark night of the soul that lasted from July until just recently I was far from positive but I remained hopeful all would work out.  My wife is incessantly positive and she reminds me everyday why it is good and beneficial to remain positive throughout your day and life.
The ancient Hebrews, God's chosen people, were told they would be a light to all nations and all nations would be blessed through them.
Yet these very people were enslaved by the Egyptian, Babylonians and conquered by Rome amongst other invading nations.  They were told they were saved, they were blessed by God.  However, many must've felt that it was the impudent middle finger of God's graces after such torments.
As anyone of us may feel when going through trials of our own.
But in winter the coldest time of day is right before dawn.  Without the cold how could we know warmth and without darkness how would we recognize the light?
Trite it may seem but I feel it is true.
The Prophet Isaiah tells us in Isaiah 35 that after the Babylonian captivity they will return home, and the desert will bloom and the canyons will echo in a joyful noise, joyful songs.
35: 1 The wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad for them; and the desert shall rejoice, and blossom as the rose.² It shall blossom abundantly, and rejoice even with joy and singing: the glory of Lebanon shall be given unto it, the excellency of Carmel and Sharon, they shall see the glory of the Lord, and the excellency of our God.
³ Strengthen ye the weak hands, and confirm the feeble knees.
⁴ Say to them that are of a fearful heart, Be strong, fear not: behold, your God will come with vengeance, even God with a recompence; he will come and save you.
⁵ Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped.
⁶ Then shall the lame man leap as an hart, and the tongue of the dumb sing: for in the wilderness shall waters break out, and streams in the desert.
⁷ And the parched ground shall become a pool, and the thirsty land springs of water: in the habitation of dragons, where each lay, shall be grass with reeds and rushes.
⁸ And an highway shall be there, and a way, and it shall be called The way of holiness; the unclean shall not pass over it; but it shall be for those: the wayfaring men, though fools, shall not err therein.
⁹ No lion shall be there, nor any ravenous beast shall go up thereon, it shall not be found there; but the redeemed shall walk there:
¹⁰ And the ransomed of the Lord shall return, and come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads: they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.
 When I read this it reminds me of Jesus answering a question asked by John the Baptist's disciples with a question:
³ "And said unto him, Art thou he that should come, or do we look for another?⁴ Jesus answered and said unto them, Go and shew John again those things which ye do hear and see:⁵ The blind receive their sight, and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have the gospel preached to them.⁶ And blessed is he, whosoever shall not be offended in me." (Matthew 11:3-6)
Now what I see in common is that the deaf can hear, the blind can see and the lame can walk.  But they do so because they are blessed by God, they are saved in both accounts.  What I sense is that by accepting the gift of the Atonement you are saved, your eyes are opened for the first time, you are healed spiritualy, mentally and possibly physically.
These two scripture quotes tells of of times when the spirit of The Lord is upon us, the essence of Christ's love is infused within us and we each exude that light of love.  We are our brothers keeper.
And to shed light on the backstory if Jesus's comments; John the Baptist had been imprisoned and was about to be martyred.  These were dark times but Jesus' ministry was just beginning, there was light at the end of this dark tunnel.
Isaiah wrote about the Jews being released from their captivity in Babylon and used the same imagery as Jesus did to described times which knew the fullness of The Lord.
Jesus said the Kingdom of God is within you: " And when he was demanded of the Pharisees, when the kingdom of God should come, he answered them and said, The kingdom of God cometh not with observation:²¹ Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you.²² And he said unto the disciples, The days will come, when ye shall desire to see one of the days of the Son of man, and ye shall not see it.²³ And they shall say to you, See here; or, see there: go not after them, nor follow them.²⁴ For as the lightning, that lighteneth out of the one part under heaven, shineth unto the other part under heaven; so shall also the Son of man be in his day. (Luke 17:21-24)
Jesus I think, is telling us that we can access that eternal light the way wayward ships find their way home by the light of a lighthouse in a storm.  That we can access that bounty and joy at any time.
Jesus speaks of the light of the Gospel, which means "Good News," as living water.  He tells the Samaritan woman that all crave the living water.  The ministry of Christ rest on the message, the teaching of love.
You can go within to that Kingdom, and be one with God at anytime you so choose.  The word atonement in English originally meant at-one-ment, meaning to be at one with.
And we can be at one with God at anytime, we can pray, we can be quenched fully by that living water.  We have an Oasis brimming over with living water within us all.  And we are meant to continue that ministry of Christ, to quench others with that living water.