Tension

A friend of mine sent this to me in an email.

I feel like I'm treading water in the middle of a dark ocean, with a full moon overhead but no land visible in any direction.  I can try to keep treading water until sunrise and hope that I can see land then, but I'm not sure I have the strength to keep my head above water that long.  I can just start swimming in one direction and hope I hit land; better chance of hitting land than just treading water, but equally likely that I swim even further from shore.  Do I keep treading water and hope that land is visible in the daylight (even if I can keep my head above water all night, I may find myself just as lost when the sun rises)?  Do I just start swimming, and if so, in what direction?  

As we talked through his email & the realities of where life is for him and his family right now there is nothing but tension, confusion, frustration & a sense of lostness in processing everything.  
It got me thinking about some questions for myself:

When life seems dark where do I turn?
How do I trust God when God's voice of direction is silent?
When I have to make choices & have no clue where to go what does life feel like to me?

Sometimes Life feels heavier than Hope & Faith feels more like Frustration.