Day 5 Journal Reflection -
“Treasures in the Darkness” (Isaiah 45:3)
There are seasons in life when God leads us into places we never would have chosen — places that feel like darkness, scarcity, or abandonment. My homelessness season was one of those places. But now, looking back, I see it through the lens of Isaiah 45:3:
“I will give you the treasures of darkness and hidden riches in secret places…”
When I first stepped into the emergency shelter, I didn’t feel like someone receiving treasure. I felt stripped down to nothing — identity, stability, safety, all shaken loose. But it was in that very darkness that God began revealing the hidden riches He had prepared for me.
The “treasures” weren’t material. They were deeper, quieter, and eternal:
Identity — God began rebuilding who I was from the inside out, not based on what I had lost, but on who He had always known me to be.
Discernment — In the silence of those nights, I learned to hear His voice without the noise of my old life drowning Him out.
Calling — The wilderness became the birthplace of my commission: to shepherd, advocate, and stand in the gap for the vulnerable.
Compassion — Having lived the stigma, the fear, and the uncertainty, I now carry a heart that recognizes the invisible wounds in others.
It was in the “darkness” that God handed me the keys to The Refuge of Peace Justice & Advocacy Center — not as an organization, but as a calling forged in fire. The treasures He gave me were not gold; they were authority, empathy, and a prophetic understanding of the brokenhearted.
Homelessness was not the end of my story. It was the hidden chamber where God placed the riches I would need for the ministry ahead.
Now, when I walk with someone through their own wilderness, I carry the treasures He gave me there — treasures I never would have found in the light.
-RIVER
Psalm 46: 4&5