We all find ourselves in dark places from time to time. Places where answers are hard to find and the future seems uncertain. In those times our world seems to shake around us and the foundations we have laid for ourselves no longer seem capable or strong enough to last. What we thought we knew no longer applies and we find ourselves perplexed and dismayed.
Everyone searches for hope in the darkness but few seem to find it. Why is that? Could it be that we often look in the wrong place for hope? Could it be that we are ignorant of the source of true hope?
Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. Hebrews 11:1 (NASB)
As a child of God, our hope should be in God and God alone. He is the only one with the power and the authority to speak calm into our turmoil and light into our darkness. But even in this there is a proper time and a proper order that God alone knows.
When we find ourselves in a place of need, desperately searching for an answer, our first response should be to cry out to God. But what if God does not answer right away? What if God does not answer in the way that we think He should?
Then we are blessed to be able to exercise our faith. Faith is the assurance of that which we hope for and it is our conviction that even though we can’t see our way out we know that God can! With just a word God created the world and everything in it. When God speaks, all creation must take heed. God’s word still has the power to completely change our lives and to perform miracles in places without hope.
God’s will is to take us home to be with Him in perfect fellowship for all eternity. But we often forget that only He knows the path that will lead us home. Sometimes the darkness is allowed to persist and the uncertainty lingers. And the more uncomfortable our situation the faster we want out and the more we struggle against it.
Sometimes we must be led through the darkness in order to increase our faith and so that we may be a guide for others who are following behind us. Our dark periods are not just for us alone and have far reaching spiritual ramifications that we will never fully understand until we see Jesus face to face.
For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison, while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal. 2 Corinthians 4:17-18 (NASB)
We must learn to use our eyes of faith and see beyond that which is temporary to that which is eternal. Whatever we are going through now and whatever situation we find ourselves in on this earth will change. Good or bad, it will pass away and it will not persist. In the light of eternity, it is momentary. But even these moments, as confusing and uncertain as they often seen, can be used by the Lord God of all to produce in us an eternal weight of glory that is far beyond all comparison.
Trust in God, even in the darkness. Don’t forget your hope and remember to look forward to the day when all is revealed and your reward is received. It will be worth it all.