Darkness
In the UK, we have recently turned our clocks back.
As much as we now enjoy lighter mornings, we also face darker nights.
What is it about the dark that can sometimes make us afraid?
It’s because we can’t see what’s around us or what’s ahead. There’s an element of uncertainty, and that can make us feel anxious.
Maybe there’s something about the Covid-19 pandemic that’s brought a kind of darkness into this season of our lives - darkness into our hearts, as well as our outlook. And we can’t yet see the light at the end of the tunnel.
But just because we can’t see things happening in these dark times, in the way we do in the light, it doesn’t mean God is not working.
He is with us in the darkness, and He is working in our darkness.
God does wonderful things in the dark.
Think of when a seed is planted in the soil. It is buried under the darkness, and that’s when something beautiful happens. Germination begins. Life stirs within the seed. And eventually, it breaks through into the light as a beautiful plant that gives fruit or flowers - or both.
In the darkness, miracles happen.
Psalm 139 tells us that we were knit together in our mother’s womb - in a secluded place, in the darkness. In the mystery of that hidden place, God was working. He was forming us. What a beautiful thing to happen in the dark: you and I were being made.
We don’t need to fear the darkness because God is at work there.
Genesis 1:1–3 says that in the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. At that time, there was darkness - and the Spirit of God was hovering. Then God spoke into the darkness and said, “Let there be light.”
There was darkness, but when God’s Spirit moved, and His voice was heard, He brought light.
In the same way, any darkness we might be feeling now could be the setting for God to do something wonderful.
He is shining His light on us and within us.
In the dark times, God is at work - germinating dreams, ideas, hopes, and aspirations. He is planting seeds within us that will produce fruit.
I pray that God would shine His light on you today.
Here’s a beautiful promise for you:
“You, O Lord, keep my lamp burning;
my God turns my darkness into light.”
—Psalm 18:28