Really? Not Again – In the Dark

So we were expecting a new employee this morning to help out with the upcoming deadlines. Once again, hope was dashed with a last minute text of saying they won’t be coming…30 minutes before work.

In life it is easy to lose hope in situations that are beyond your control.

When relationships fade despite your commitment. When once solid ground erodes around your feet despite the cultivation you have endured. When finances crumble despite your best and well intentions.

Life has a way to humble us even when we thought we couldn’t be humbled any lower.

So, where do you go from here?

Do you turn to a bottle? Do you turn to another body to fill that void? Do you turn to another temporary gap filler until you reach the end of your elusive, never ending rainbow.

I wish I could take a peak at the bigger picture. I wish I could just shake the present like two days before Christmas, just to know there is something waiting for me to unwrap.

Instead of waiting in the dark.

But darkness is sometimes needed.

Darkness can bring out the worst fears in all of us, but it can also lead us to a time of deep rest. A time to close our eyes without the pain of the blinding light piercing through our sealed shut eyelids. A period to just breathe without worrying who may see us in such a helpless estate. A time to fall before the One who sees what’s beyond the crack of dawn.

Knowing we won’t have time to rest when the sun is up. Guiding us to rest now, because strength will be needed soon. Teaching us to stay calm, for larger storms will come. Protecting us from dangers we would have hiked towards despite all the warning signs.

You can see the period of darkness as a prison or punishment, but sometimes those thick walls and bars are an unknown needed fortress able to withstand all the hardships lurking around the corner.

So, if you’re in a season of darkness, take heart. You can’t see the monsters in the dark. Call it blissful ignorance. Call it faith. Call it whatever you want, but the darkness has a purpose.

Even if it’s just to show us how bright the light of God is when we are finally able to see that Heavenly sight.

So, may you take this time to refuel.

Because dawn is eventually going to shine.

And will you be ready?

Or will you turn and hide back into the darkness?

You may say that is a ridiculous notion, but ever step out into the light after being in the dark? It’s blinding. It takes time for your eyes to adjust. You may feel like it’ll be easier to head back into Egypt than walk for the next 40 years.

But when God led the people to the promised land, He led them with a cloud by day and a fire by night.

Now that’s a bright light.

So, get ready. He may strike the match any minute. I just hope my faith is strong enough to walk toward the light when that moment comes.

Peace