God in the Darkness

I was reading 1 Kings 8 recently, and verse 12 got me thinking. It states that the Lord said He would dwell in the dark cloud. This is interesting because 1 John 1:5 makes it clear that God is light, and in Him there is no darkness at all. But still, God dwells in darkness. He is with us in our darkest days whether it be like a flood or a fire. He may not immediately take us out of darkness, but He takes us through it. We can trust that He will show up to help us in our stormy days because nothing is impossible for Him.

Immediately Jesus made His disciples get into the boat and go before Him to the other side, while He sent the multitudes away. And when He had sent the multitudes away, He went up on the mountain by Himself to pray. Now when evening came, He was alone there. But the boat was now in the middle of the sea, tossed by the waves, for the wind was contrary. Now in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went to them, walking on the sea. And when the disciples saw Him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, “It is a ghost!” And they cried out for fear. But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, “Be of good cheer! It is I; do not be afraid.” Matthew 14:22-27

Can you imagine being in a boat at night, being tossed about by waves in a storm, and then things seemingly getting worse when an eerie figure approaches you in the middle of the darkness? Have you ever felt that you were in a dark period of your life, and instead of things getting better, they get worse? Well, this is what the disciples must have felt until they heard the ghostlike figure say, “It is I.” Although it was dark and stormy, they recognized the voice of their miracle-working Master, Jesus. He seemed to have shown up just in time to save them. I believe that when He sent the disciples into the boat to go before Him, He had known what danger they would encounter, and He was going to use that stormy night as an object lesson. Remember, some of these disciples were expert fishermen, whose job was to be out on the water, and they were also keenly aware of its hazards. They knew they were in a very dangerous situation. When Peter recognized Jesus, in order to confirm that it was Him, Peter asked Jesus to command him to go to Him on the choppy water, knowing this would be impossible unless it was really His Rabbi. The next thing you know, Peter was out there walking toward Jesus until he was overcome by fear when he saw the raucous wind and started to sink. But Jesus stretched out His arm and saved him. Then they got into the boat, and the winds ceased and settled. The darkness and the storm were nothing to the Lord.

He made darkness His secret place; His canopy around Him was dark waters and thick clouds of the skies. Psalm 18:11

God uses the darkness. He is not out of place in it. Sometimes our dark times are what God employs to draw us into the secret place with Him. This is when no one else can help us but Him, and we need to be in His presence. He is with us in that dark place, ready to comfort us, and we should know that though mourning lasts for the night, joy comes in the morning. And although the night may seem to be never-ending, like those on the North and South Poles which last for six months, God takes the opportunity to mold us more into His image during this period. These intimate times with Him allow us to know more about Him personally. Now, this may not happen if we are fighting the night, which is our natural tendency, as we want to get out and we want to get out fast. Therefore, we will try any strategy possible, even if it is us thinking we can manipulate God into getting us to our joy in the morning quickly. You know what I mean? Don’t you? Sometimes we try those prayers we find online that is guaranteed to let us to have our breakthrough now. We say these rousing prayers to move God’s hands, and then we get frustrated when nothing happens. God will know when we are ready to get out of the darkness, so it is better that we wait on Him and watch for the lessons He is teaching as He guides us through the darkness. And in the darkness, we should let His word be a lamp to our feet and a light to our path, knowing that the darkness is as light to Him.

If I say, “Surely the darkness shall fall on me,” even the night shall be light about me; indeed, the darkness shall not hide from You, but the night shines as the day; the darkness and the light are both alike to You. Psalm 139:11-12

Darkness is as light to God. Darkness might be difficult for us, but it is nothing for Him. Remember, God was there when the earth had no form and it was empty, and darkness covered the deep waters. Out of this God created light and separated the light from the darkness, and He created lights in the heavens. He made a great light for the day and a lesser light for the night. So why are we worried about the darkness, when God not only moves in it, but He moves it?  So when our dark periods come, know that God is in it, and let Him have His way. When we wait on Him and get close to Him during this time, we may see that He makes greatness out of darkness.