“Light dawns in the darkness for the upright;
He is gracious, merciful, and righteous.”
– Psalm 112:4

Right now, this life just feels heavy. Hard. Dark. With sickness and death, confusion and chaos, despair and hopelessness on display as we navigate such unprecedented times, it feels like someone turned the lights out on us and suddenly thrust us into darkness.

In darkness, you can’t find your way. You stumble about slowly, grasping around you for something familiar to orient yourself by. The darkness also amplifies our fears. It’s unnerving not to be able to see what is around you, and our mind goes into overdrive.

Just like we experience physical darkness when a light switch is turned off, we can experience the darkness of difficult circumstances.

In the disorienting dark, we can grow scared and bitter, or we can grab hold of Jesus.

Our fear tells us that we are alone and that the darkness will never end. Our anger boils that we didn’t deserve the darkness. We have a hard time understanding how a good God can allow such complete darkness and why he doesn’t deliver us.

The truth is, even in the darkness, He is still good. When we can’t find our way, He is the path. When we don’t understand, He has the master plan. Most importantly, in the darkest night, He is right beside you. Some of my sweetest lessons I’ve learned are a result of the dark, because I had nothing to hold on to but Him.

BUT – God doesn’t leave us in darkness. There is always a sunrise after each night. He created the world deliberately to work this way. Each dawn is a reminder of His promise and His light.

The ultimate light He has given us is the gift of Jesus. No matter the pain and darkness of this world, it all resolves in His eternal light in heaven. It doesn’t matter how the story ends here on earth, because it’s not the end. His light triumphs over darkness forever. 

What are you grabbing for in the darkness to steady yourself? What lessons are you learning?