He that walks in darkness and has no light, let him TRUST in the name of Jehovah and RELY upon “HIS” God.” Isaiah 50:10
There is a beautiful scripture reference in Isaiah 45:3: “Treasures are hidden in the darkness, secret riches. I will do this so you may know that I am Lord, the God of Israel and the one who calls you by name.” “Who among you that fears Jehovah obeys the voice of His servant? He that walks in darkness and has no light, let him TRUST in the name of Jehovah and RELY upon “HIS” God.” Isaiah 50:10 There are some treasures that cannot be seen in the light.
As I typed out my devotional and book notes, I experienced a computer issue. Unfortunately, I didn’t save the document before the system crashed. I typed out the full page, but all my notes and newfound nuggets were lost. I held my breath, but to no avail, I could not recover the document. I should have saved! Regrettably, I only needed to press the “save as” button. I should name the file, and all would have been well! I talked to God on the way home. I expressed how disappointed and sorry I was. I felt especially sorry for the time I spent typing since I stayed late after work. I said, I will retackle it tomorrow and learn from it and move on. As I turned off going under the freeway, and turned the corner, I had a praise song in my mouth. Then I saw something that was so breathtaking! The bold, new moon with the purple hues of the dark sky in the backdrop was beautifully illuminated. It was close to a full moon, and it was showing off as it was cresting up over the mountain, it quickly went halfway up the mountain.
I said, out loud to God, ‘What a beautiful moon tonight! God spoke profoundly. His voice was so crisp and so clear. He said, “There are just some things you cannot see unless it is dark!” WOW! How true is that?! Then I suspected that the computer program failure was not a total accident. God wanted to give me a new perspective. He also wanted to give me a greater revelation to share. I was especially blessed that God made it so personal to me.
During the day, without the evening sky, we cannot see the stars in their alignment. We cannot observe how they move and change with the seasons. We also miss the beautiful moon glistening. It casts its shadows to show off the beauty of the symphony surrounding the landscape below. “Treasures are hidden in the darkness; secret riches.” In the daytime, we see the form of the moon. However, we cannot enjoy the illumination unless it is dark. He wants you to be on familiar terms with His love and light. But you should also know that without some ‘dark times,’ how could you truly grow?
We read in the Bible and are aware of the many areas that have many different illustrations for the darkness. Remember, God created it all, and He said it is good. I am not talking about a plague of darkness, or physical death, or the evil of the darkness of hell. The times of darkness I am addressing is a season that God takes you on a journey. You may be experiencing a personal trek now. Alternatively, you have heard of something like this. You might have already experienced it. When everything seems to go wrong, and the strangest things happen in your life, it can be confusing times. Unless you have walked it and experienced this season, you may not understand what is happening.
Job is a person you can relate or identify with during a process that he had. He lost everything! All his kids, property, animals, and servants. He was reduced to sores and broken clay pots to ease the itching. His wife even abandoned him and said, curse God and die. He was left in the midst of the greatest grief anyone could ever imagine. All the circumstances happening simultaneously! One crisis after another! Problems escalated from bad to worse! Job, throughout all this, stated, “My eyes are red with weeping. Darkness covers my eyes. Yet I am innocent. My prayers are pure.” Job 16:16 God spoke very highly of Job. He was a man of integrity. Job had a heightened sense and awareness of God; he always wanted to please Him.
One day, God said to the devil, have you considered my servant Job? Oh man, with all his problems, God brings up his name! The Lord has also brought your name up as well. The devil can’t do anything to God’s children unless he is permitted by God. A nice thing here is that God trusts you to do the right thing. He knows you love Him and don’t want to sin and displease Him! But ALL have fallen short of the glory of God. God has promised that He wouldn’t put more on us than we could bear. I am sure we all think of Job’s story, and we could never find ourselves equal to His character or compare ourselves to him. But it is helpful to have people to identify with in your life!
When you begin this process, it is foreign to you. You sense you are in a new place, and navigating is very difficult. You do finally get that you must become very sensitive to the Holy Spirit. You may feel a little frustrated and out of control. You have zero control; you have to TRUST God. I had hope because I read the end of Job, and God worked it all out, and that was my heart’s cry. Please, Lord, make everything work out for my benefit and your glory in your time. I don’t compare my life with Job’s and my other Bible heroes, Joseph and David. I am sure grateful they are written in the book to know that even though they didn’t get the best hand dealt, God used them all for His greater good and glory. We know God is no respecter of persons; what He does for one, He will or can do for ALL! So we have hope.
I continually took a mental note that He is God and I am NOT! He loves me. I was remembering His faithfulness. I reflected on the life lessons He taught me from previous situations and trials. That He would not abandon me in this place. The experiences came and went. Then it seemed as if I plummeted down to the abyss of the depths in one day. I had no roadmap, no previous experience to glean from, and it was scary and dark. I realized immediately that I was grappling with fears. I also uncovered other hidden issues that I didn’t know existed before. The worst was I lost my ‘connection’ with God; I “felt” He was a million miles away. I was a most miserable human being. I cried a lot—a very emotional time. I prayed, and I sought God. It ‘felt’ like everyone abandoned me; I had no one to relate to. So I had to rely on the Holy Spirit to be my teacher and train me and school me in this spiritual college. I was getting quite an education.
I began to read about the ‘Dark night of the Soul’, there was not much in print, so I read all I could find; it was mostly old materials. John of the Cross, Madame Guyon, and so many more, but it was very powerful. I read so many books from the 16th century regarding their experiences and the revelations they gleaned. I found it illuminating as well as still relevant to me. It gave me a sense of clarity. All I could do was pray, cry, and continue on where I was until I passed through the place God was taking me. Where it was weeks, months, and then years, the journey was like a wilderness trek, not quite as long as 40 years. At this point in my journey, I had already experienced many places of ‘feeling’ stuck, and I remembered all that God did previously and knew that He is faithful to do all He says. I was trusting Him. It was as if He was doing a slow descent to the floor of hell; it didn’t happen all at once, it was in stages, and I came back out alive and better for it. Just like He told the disciples, let us go to the other side, and on the way, the boat was about to sink, and they were in a strong storm. Being experienced fishermen, it must have been a storm of the century. When they saw Him walking on water, it was just shocking to their senses. The Lord will gradually do things within us to get us accustomed to the spiritual things He wants to reveal. Fear has a way to keep us hiding from exposure to the unknown, but gradually, as a new Christian, He began to help me to deal with the interior things I struggled with. And I was freed from fear and other issues that hindered me. My prayer was, You put me here, and I pray I can come through all victoriously. With overcoming power!” Who among you that fears Jehovah obeys the voice of His servant? He that walks in darkness and has no light, let him TRUST in the name of Jehovah and RELY upon “HIS” God.” Isaiah 50:10
During some very intense times in the beginning, I had days that I thought, what else can go wrong? My husband said, don’t challenge worse, and my mom said, don’t leave the house! I prayed and repented, asking if I did something wrong. I continued to pray, repent, and plead. My goal was to do everything the way God wanted so I could get out of this place as fast as I could. Well, that didn’t work so well either! God had a plan and a purpose for this season. It was actually a promotion of sorts; even though it was a ‘painful’ time, it did produce a lot of wonderful experiences and lessons, and I definitely grew spiritually from it. God wanted to expose me to many other opportunities to grow, develop skills, and teach me many things. The greatest pleasure is that He wanted to reveal Himself to me. He is the ultimate TREASURE WE CAN FIND!
I was made aware there are many different illustrations for the darkness in the Bible. Moses experienced a darkness as he drew near unto the “thick darkness where God was.” Exodus 20:21. Where He was in the Lord’s presence for 40 days. He saw God’s back, as the Lord hid him in the cleft of the rock. This is what God is wanting to show us, Himself.
In a devotional I have enjoyed for many years, “Springs in the Valley,” there is a story about a person visiting the hothouse of a friend who was a florist. They were in the cellar, and in the dimly lighted place you could see long rows of flowerpots. Then the florist explained that in these pots had been planted bulbs for their winter flowers. It is best for them, he said, to be rooted in the dark. Not in the glaring sunlight, but in the subdued light kept in the shadows. they would be ready for the open day a little later, and then their gay colours would cheer many hearts, and their perfume fragrance would laden the winter air. They’re to be rooted in the shadow to bloom in the light. Roots, then roses! I say to you, dear reader, one day, you will bloom and be a delight to many, and your words and your life will be a fragrance to JESUS!
JOURNEY TO FRUIT 