02/14/2017
I am sitting in my prayer chair sipping on a cup of Dark English Breakfast Tea in the pre-dawn grey; having prayed, read my morning devotional and scripture. The house is still, as am I, and the spirit is swirling about me with a sweet peacefulness. This is the time of day that I can hear the Lord without distraction.
I just read Oswald Chambers as he discussed a verse regarding darkness, on which I remained obtuse for many years. Does God inhabit the night? Is there something special about the darkness when it comes to our relationship with God? We often fear the night... should we?
"What I tell you in darkness, that speak ye in light: and what ye hear in the ear, that preach ye upon the housetops."
Matthew 10:27 KJV
I understood the preaching upon the housetops part of this scripture, but God telling us things in the darkness required further thought and not to be casually brushed by. How can God, who is light, dwell in darkness?
"Then spake Solomon, The Lord said that he would dwell in the thick darkness."
1 Kings 8:12 KJV
"Clouds and darkness are round about him: righteousness and judgment are the habitation of his throne."
Psalms 97:2 KJV
There is also an excerpt from C. S. Lewis' "The Horse and His Boy" where Shasta is in pitch darkness and hears, but can't see, something walking and breathing beside him:
"If the horse had been any good – or if he had known how to get any good out of the horse – he would have risked everything on a break away and a wild gallop. But he knew he couldn’t make that horse gallop. So he went on at a walking pace and the unseen companion walked and breathed beside him. At last he could bear it no longer.
"Who are you?" he said, barely above a whisper.
"One who has waited long for you to speak," said the Thing. Its voice was not loud, but very large and deep." - C.S. Lewis
Even C. S. Lewis wondered about the darkness just as we do. It was Asland that walked in the darkness beside Shasta and yet couldn't be seen. Jesus walked at night too and was likewise. Although He is the light of the world, he didn't glow. Moreover, can light and darkness coexist? Let's reread Genesis 1:4 and discard our preconceived notions regarding God, day and night, light and darkness.
"And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness."
Genesis 1:4 KJV
God divided light and darkness for us. Did they exist simultaneously before this moment? I believe so. We like to confine God to the light, but in fact He is everywhere... light and dark... He can't be contained. Light and dark are not mutually exclusive... perhaps physicists should strive to understand this better... then just maybe the Bible could teach them to see and comprehend dark matter in a new light.
There are many metaphors regarding light and darkness in the Bible that apply to our ability to understand, or not, and are related to our physical ability to see. We also use these types of expressions in secular literature and writing.... "let me shed some light on that" or "can you illuminate that further?" or "shine a light on that, will you?" And my all time favorite... "you light up my life."
So what happens in the darkness of Matthew 10:27? Why does God speak in the darkness?
Chambers writes his personal understanding like this...
"At times God puts us through the discipline of darkness to teach us to heed Him. Song birds are taught to sing in the dark. And we are put into the shadow of God's hand until we learn to hear Him." - Oswald Chambers
Personally ... I call on 1st Kings 8:12 for my understanding... God is drawing us close to His abode and delivering to us an important message. How often do prophets interpret dreams that come in the night? When did Jesus resolve Himself to do God's will in the Garden of Gethsemane? Or when did He pray before He delivered the beatitudes? All these and more were in the night.
"And it came to pass in those days, that he went out into a mountain to pray, and continued all night in prayer to God."
Luke 6:12 KJV
Or how about Samuel when he cried to the Lord in regret for placing Saul on the throne...
"It repenteth me that I have set up Saul to be king: for he is turned back from following me, and hath not performed my commandments. And it grieved Samuel; and he cried unto the Lord all night."
1 Samuel 15:11 KJV
And then there was Paul praying at midnight..
"And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto God: and the prisoners heard them. And suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken: and immediately all the doors were opened, and every one's bands were loosed."
Acts 16:25-26 KJV
God is in the darkness of night just as He is in the bright light of day... perhaps even more so. He speaks to us in the still of night, and instructs us to do His bidding during the day. The limited ability to operate in the dark is ours... not God's.
And then there is one of the most telling moments in the Bible... as Jesus was drawing His final breath on the cross, the sky grew dark...
"And when the sixth hour was come, there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour. And at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani? which is, being interpreted, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?"
Mark 15:33-34 KJV
God was there when His son died; the darkness reveals His presence. God inhabits the night and the day without preference. It is we who are blind in the dark, and lest we forget... blinded by His brilliance in the light. Yet God has an affinity for speaking to us in the night when our minds are less preoccupied and calm, and the world rests. In Matthew 10:27, God says to listen to Him in the night and do what He says in the day!
There is much more to this subject, but perhaps we have been enlightened a bit and are prepared to spend time contemplating it today by drawing the blinds back from this misconception. Night is not to be feared beyond our normal fear of God... He has not conceded the darkness to evil nor withdrawn from it in any way.
Prayer:
Father, I seek your voice in the still of night and listen for you as men slumber and You continue to move freely across the face of the earth. The limitation of night is ours alone and even as we stumble in the dark, there is no inconvenience in it for you. Instruct me in your will just as you did your Son Jesus Christ; let me hear it clearly in the night as my spirit rests, and lead me to obey you completely by day. Lord, calm my fears in the darkest night because you are with me. Soothe my terrors as I walk blindly feeling my way, and let me feel your spirit as it accompanies and guides me. Heavenly Father, there is no place that can deny you and in my darkest hour... you are there. Illuminate my good thoughts and pour your righteousness upon me; let me walk Holy and fearless with you; even in the darkness.