Treasures of Darkness

“I will give you the treasures of darkness and hidden riches of secret places, that you may know that I, the LORD, who called you by your name, am the God of Israel.” Isaiah 45:3

Darkness in our lives can come as a result from our (wrong) choices; it can be spiritual, when we live in disobedience to God’s word. There is also the darkness of evil, which we sense.
However, sometimes the darkness in our life comes without a reason, nor was it caused by something we did or didn’t.
It’s not that God causes bad things to happen to us. We live in a fallen world and bad things happen, also to good people. Sometimes we descend into dark despair after being unjustly or badly treated, and it is felt extra when caused by other believers.
When we’re in the midst of it, it’s hard to accept that God works in the deepest darkness of our lives. Although our mind knows that His presence and light are there for us, our hearts find it difficult to grasp it.
Only when we make a conscious choice to open our eyes, God will help us to see the good He brings out of every situation.

Sometimes God allows things to get very dark in our lives because He wants to teach about Himself, because He wants us to grow.
Unfortunately for us, some things cannot be taught in any other setting than darkness. But it’s a place where treasures can be found.

When there’s a power outage at night you can’t see a thing – you grope around you, reach out to feel something familiar to hold on to, step carefully until you find a source of light. It can be a family member who beckons you with a flashlight, and you gratefully walk towards it.
In the darkness of our lives, God wants to be that light ~ we can reach out to Him, grab his strong hand as He guides us through the darkness.

At times it may feel as if God lets our grope around all alone, as if He abandoned us to our fate. But even when it appears our life is over, and all that is left for us is utter despair and darkness, God actually is growing us into our future.

When we find ourselves in such a dark, gloomy period in our lives, the enemy gladly whispers in our ears that we surely must be out of the will of God. But when you know that you’ve been living in obedience to God’s word, this darkness places you more probably in the centre of His will!

Feelings are bad guides. We may feel that God has abandoned us in our miserable circumstances, left us alone to wander around aimlessly, without seeing a clear path to walk on.
Take heart, and joyfully start looking for the treasures God has in store for you!
As we make an effort to use this time of darkness to let God’s light in us grow brighter, He will reach out. All we have to take His hand, and walk with Him.

What may seem to be the darkest step we’ve ever been on, can be just one step away from the lightest light we’ve ever experienced. (And I can assure you ~ it's not the oncoming train!)