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Resources - Article: The Dark Before the Dawn
By Lynn "Phoenix" Marks - The Messenger
Coach, Speaker, Author

"I feel terrible. I wanted your trip to be so good. The accommodations just aren’t coming together and there hasn’t been any real response yet from my friends."

That’s Gail my longtime friend and on and off again client for the past nine years. She is hosting my visit and presentations in her city, Kansas City. Her friend Kay had earlier volunteered that I could stay at her house and then was unexpectently called out of town. Gail’s been calling around to other friends and for whatever reason hasn’t connected with anyone. And, adding to her dismay, there is a big college sporting event happening the same weekend as my visit. The hotel she has a corporate rate at is fully booked as are all the other surrounding hotels.

I feel confident that all is fine and tell her to hold that thought and feeling.

The next day is very much like a New England rainy day, except I live in south Florida. The day started out with a deep, dark sky. No clouds, just a sky shrouded in a dense, almost black, blanket. Then there’s a heavy rain and the black sky is replaced with solid gray. Everything seems to be going in slow motion on this non-stop drizzling, damp and icy-cold day.

I spend the morning researching accommodations in Kansas City on the Internet. Gail’s right. Her preferred hotel is booked. And, all the surrounding hotels, if they’re not booked have doubled their rates for this weekend.

At lunch I do what I generally do most days. I read from one of the books stacked up on my desk. Today I’m guided to The Writings of Florence Shovel Shinn. Again, as I usually do, I simply open to the pages I’m guided to read. Today it’s page 121. It’s a page of affirmations and I’m immediately drawn to one: "It is dark before the dawn but the dawn never fails. Trust in the dawn."

How perfect. How true. It’s as if the Universe is literally acting out this message. I feel its truth and trust in a most positive demonstration.

Later that night I’m led to call the various hotels that I’ve identified for Kansas City. Intuitively I’m guided to three and told to call first the one Gail said would be best, although it is booked. I call and am told that although they don’t have Saturday night available they do have Sunday and Monday night. I ask for their best rate. And, after going back and forth, the price is almost cut in half to $69 a night. I tell the reservations person that I could be interested, although, I’d prefer all three nights in the same hotel so I’m going to check out other hotels. Then I ask how I can ensure that I get the same rate if I call back. And, she says, "Tell them Dawn quoted you the winter rate."

Amazed, I ask her to confirm her name again. Yes, it’s Dawn.

Keep reading; it gets better. I call a couple of more hotels and find that their rates are higher and they aren’t really as conveniently located as Gail’s preferred hotel. So I let it go expecting the reservations to work out. The next day I awaken to a beautifully sunny and warm day and don’t give the reservations a thought.

It’s two days later and I’m standing in line to board the plane for Kansas City. We’re expected to board in about five minutes. Just then my inner voice speaks. It’s a simple knowingness that it’s time to call that hotel again in Kansas City. I do and guess who answers the phone. Yes, it’s Dawn. They now have an opening for Saturday night. Again the rate is almost doubled because of the sporting event that night. Calmly without any rush or doubt I proceed to ask Dawn if there is a better rate. We started at $129 and then it was $119. I asked again and now it’s $109 and I ask again. She checks with someone and now quotes me $99. She didn’t think she could go any lower. Then she asked if I was a hotel club member. I told her that I was sure I was at some time and could be again. We locked the rate in for that night at $85. Almost as soon as we agreed my row was called to board the plane.

Experiencing the "dark before the dawn" is repeatedly played out as variations upon a theme many times throughout our lives. The particulars and the degree of the situation may be unique for each person, yet the process is the same. Sometimes it takes a lifetime of lessons to learn that this isn’t a fluke or accident for there are no such things. This is a Universal law that has always been and will continue to be. We can activate the "dawn" consistently in our life when we recognize this spiritual truth and practice the steps with a light-hearted and expecting heart and mind.

The "dark" can represent anything that looks or feels impossible. It could be a sense of being stuck, lost, confused or turned around. It could be a fact, like your bank account having a negative balance. It may be a feeling that all the time, effort and energy you’ve put into something hasn’t materialized as you had hoped.

Natherly Kennedy, the first black woman to receive an engineering degree from a Texas university, knows about the dark. She also knows about the dawn. I had the pleasure of hearing her speak at a women’s business networking event once. She was on a panel of women telling their companies success stories.

Natherly had worked for five years to build her engineering company. She was at the point that she could barely make payroll every week. In fact, this week, she couldn’t cover payroll. She had been waiting for a certain proposal to come through. That night as she sat at home on the edge of her bed she simply turned it over to God. As she tells it, it was a simple prayer. In essence, she said that "if it is meant to be (stay in business) it is up to thee." There was no pity-party or tears; simply a letting go of what was out of her control. The next day her company was awarded the proposal and prospered for some 25 more years until when she retired.

During one of my personally darkest hours I too experienced the power of this Universal truth. My husband turned out to be a "bad guy" and blamed me and my book, Messages from God, for everything that was wrong in our life and his business transactions. I felt that my legal and financial experts were looking out more for their financial interests than my well-being playing on my emotional vulnerability. I truly felt alone, not knowing who to trust.

I sat in the whirlpool meditating. I let go all my worldly concerns and centered inside. As I became one with the warmth of the water outside, I relaxed from the inside-out within the universe of my inner ocean and simply asked for direction. I drifted deeper and deeper inside communing silently with what some may call my Christ-self, higher self, God-self, the Universe. A message bubbled up. "Call Gail." As I left the gym that afternoon I spotted feathers on the sidewalk leading to my car. What a confirmation that I was being divinely led.

This Gail was a colleague and friend who I hadn’t communicated with in a couple of years. I called her from another friend’s house later that day. Ever so briefly I told her my situation. She said her son Jaime, who was completing his law degree and apprenticing now, was there and he would know. And, in a matter of minutes I had the clear direction I sought.

Webster’s defines "trust" as a "firm belief in the honesty, reliability of another; faith" and as "confident expectation, hope."

Although, oftentimes we may put our trust in another person; this trust I am speak of is faith in the highest power, substance and intelligence within you. This trust is "Let go, Let God" in action. It isn’t struggle, worry, anger or fear; although, invariably it often takes experiencing these states to be drawn into a deeper connection with your inner God consciousness.

It is a belief that there is a higher force in control. It is a knowing that there is a life force that flows through all things and beings in the Universe that wants you to live in peace, joy and prosperity. And, when we stay centered in this knowingness, this attitude, this heart-felt place we know a right and perfect answer, solution or outcome is already coming forth through us. Faith is aligning with this inner light, this daybreak — the dawn.

To know such is to know that any desire in your heart for anything is God’s promise that it is yours already. The word "promise" literally means "send forth." It is something sent forth beforehand to indicate something unseen, like success in some endeavor. It is the basis of expectancy.

In the Bible we’re told that: "Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen." (Heb 11:1) Faith derives from the Latin fidere which means to trust. Webster’s defines faith as "unquestioning belief, complete trust or confidence."

Eric Butterworth, in his book The Universe is Calling" refers to scientific prayer as "synchronizing ourselves in consciousness with the cosmic flow, which is God’s eternal willingness." (pg 91)

He says, "Prayer must involve a letting go, a re-centering of yourself in oneness with God, and then, instead of praying to God about the problem, you pray from the consciousness of God, projecting spiritual power in a transcendental flow to heal and harmonize and make you prosper." (pg 87)

Traditionally prayer may be something you formally recite, perhaps from rote, when you awaken or just before going to sleep. And, yet prayer is so much more. The prayer Butterworth writes of is Trust.

Whether you know it or not you are always praying. Every thought and feeling you have is a prayer. Every word you speak is a prayer. Every prayer is an affirmation of what you Trust, what you expect and an indication of where your faith is.

In Messages from God it says: "Be fully conscious. Be aware of the truth within and live it daily." (p 49) And, what is this truth? Simply that the God-force, the life-force of the Universe resides in you. It is here for one simple purpose: to create as you will. Therefore, whatever you are feeling, speaking, thinking inside is exactly what you are creating, attracting, living in your outside, material world, in the physical plane. You can have it anyway you want. We live in an affirming Universe. It is the law that every action results in a similar reaction. Like a boomerang we receive just what we project.

The key is distinguishing between the external facts, the illusion, and spiritual reality, the truth. We are consistently called upon to be fully conscious. We are repeatedly given the opportunity to choose (read that Trust) our will and the illusion or to be aligned with truth, centered in the awareness of the greater potential that is within us, the will of the Universe.

So when you find yourself in even the slightest perceived crisis, feeling pressure or dis-ease of any sort, it’s time to ask: Where am I putting my intention, my Trust — the dark or the dawn? And, like the sign above the door in Thomas Edison’s lab, know: "There is a better way. Find it." The way resides inside. It is done.


We offer this article on a non-exclusive basis. You may reprint or repost this material as long as Phoenix Lynn Marks’ name, copyright and contact information are included.

© 2005 Phoenix Lynn Marks, known as the SpiritDiva, is an intuitive coach who writes and speaks on understanding the messages of life to realize our full potential. She is the author of Messages from God®, Strategies for Your Personal Success and The Gift of Change.

For private sessions or to subscribe to her newsletter contact
spiritdiva@bellsouth.net | www.MessagesFromGod.com



Message From God...
Be a no limit person by reading a delightful - Absorbing book on how to maximize your full potential.

Mark Victor Hansen



Client's Saying...
Visualize and actually achieve your professional goals by getting over the obstacles that mentally and physically get in your way.

Alicia Jansen



Bible Speaking...
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Matthew 7:7



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