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The Darkness

by Jerry Ousley  
6/06/2014 / Christian Living

I had never seen such darkness. I've been in the deep woods where no street lights are to be found, no security lights and so forth, and it is dark; but even then the millions of stars and the moon provide a little light. But this was dark. We had taken a tour through Mammoth Cave in Kentucky. About mid-ways through the tour the guide told the crowd that he was going to turn off the lights for a few moments so that we could see just how dark it was. We were told to hold our hands in front of our faces I know that I did, I'm not sure about all the others because, well, I couldn't see them. In fact, I couldn't see anything. My hand was there because I had stuck it up. I touched my face with it just to make sure. Had a power failure occurred right then and the flashlights had quit working, I don't know how we would ever have gotten out of that cave.

A group of men from the local congregation where I attended took us teenage boys on a cave tour. It was much more rustic than the one through Mammoth Cave. They basically did the same thing and then told stories of when they were teenagers and would take a friend through the cave. They would get about half way in, and then run from the so called friend, who didn't have a light, leaving him to find his way out. He did, but I don't know how he did it without getting hurt. I know if it had happened to me it would've been a long time before I called them my friends again.

I can't imagine what it must be like to be blind. I would think it would be harder on those who have gone blind rather than being blind from birth; don't get me wrong, either situation is a tragedy. But one who has never known sight would adapt to it much more quickly than one who had seen and then lost their sight, or I think so anyway. We just don't know how much we depend on sight until we no longer have it. But when all light is gone, we are all as good as blind. Our sight depends on light.

Micah wrote, "Do not rejoice over me, my enemy; when I fall, I will arise; when I sit in darkness, the Lord will be a light to me" (Micah 7:8). I'm certain that we can take this literally. Those who are blind or are in situations of darkness can duly testify that the Lord is a light to them.

At times we find ourselves in a spiritual darkness. It seems we are alone. All have forsaken us. It may even seem that God is millions of miles away. In our loneliness our time of darkness, our worst enemy, the devil, will come with his temptations. He will tell us that no one cares, not even God. If He did He wouldn't let this happen to us. So there we sit, in the darkness of our souls. It may seem all hope is gone. Whatever your situation that may be causing the darkness, it might feel as if there is no possible answer.

But take courage. As we cry out to our Lord the God of Heaven, suddenly a ray of light will appear. If we stop listening to the devil and remind him that he is a liar, then we open ourselves up so that we can begin to see the glimmer of light shining through. We will find out, just like Micah said, that when we sit in darkness, the Lord will become light to us.

Don't despair! Lift up your heart! The light may only come one ray at a time. But as we catch that single ray, and realize that there is hope there is an answer, and we renew our faith in God on that single ray of light, then more will begin to appear. At times God will give us the answer we need right away. Other times He may allow us to sit in the darkness for awhile, but only because He knows what is best for us. Regardless if He removes the darkness, or just allows the rays of His light to shine on us in our darkness, we can know that we are not alone. Either way, before long you'll need to break out your spiritual sunglasses because the light is going to come pouring through, and as you sit in your dark moments in your spirit you can be basking in the brilliant light of God.

Jerry D. Ousley is the author of ?Soul Challenge?, ?Soul Journey?, ?Ordeal?, ?The Spirit Bread Daily Devotional and his first novel ?The Shoe Tree.? Visit our website at spiritbread.com to download these and more completely free of charge.

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