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....and the Darkness He Called "Night"
Genesis 1:5
God's Darkness
Darkness. The very word gives a feeling of isolation. As the night closes in our vision becomes limited and we're suspicious of what is out there beyond our ability to see and understand. We are more vulnerable in the dark. But, did you know God own's the darkness just as much as He owns the light? Darkness is not a strange happenstance that takes God by surprise. It is not the left over part of the universe that He has not managed to conquer. Darkness is as much under His control as any other aspect of life.
God's control can be hard to trust when we feel we're being swallowed by sickness or distress or confusion. Yet, when life is darkest, lift up your head and expectantly believe that God is at work for the Bible shows that many of God's mightiest deeds took place in the dark. The Ten Commandments were given in the dark. God called the young boy, Samuel, in the middle of the night and Nehemiah found clear direction about the job to be done as he rode around the walls of Jerusalem in the dark. The closest God ever stepped toward man was when He came in the person of Jesus Christ and this, too was shrouded in darkness. The birth, death and resurrection of Jesus all took place at night.
Creation began in confusion and darkness (Genesis 1:1). God broke in with order and light, but He did not choose to leave it all light. He bound up the darkness, confined it to discrete limits of time and gave it a name: Night. Later, He gave a large light to rule the day and a lesser light to rule the evening (Genesis 1:16). Notice the word "rule" Order was given to the day but order was also given to the night. Darkness was not out of God's control. It was not the backwash of His kingdom. It was planned, ruled and named.
Our personal darkness is also not a thing that is outside His control. It had a beginning and it will have an end. It has plan and it has purpose. But, more than all of these, our darkness has a journey mate; a friend who will walk along side us even when the night is the deepest. Jesus understands the darkness for He was both born in the darkness (Luke 2:6-8) and he died in the dark (Luke 23:44-45). Our darkness may be so deep that we cannot see the path at all, but we can be assured that Jesus knows the way. The Light of the World spent many of His earthly days walking through dark places. |
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Wishing You Grace and Peace,
Elizabeth Baker
[1] Gen. 3:1 [2] I Peter 5:8 [3] II Cor. 11:14 [4] Isaiah 14:12 [5] Col. 3:10; Gal. 3:27; Rom. 13:14; Eph. 4:24.
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