Those who walk in darkness have seen a great light.
—Isaiah 9:2 

“When fall moves into winter, the summer daylight that lasted long into the evening is replaced by darkness. It stretches before us from the late afternoon, all through the night; yet no matter the season, the darkest hour comes right before the dawn. Darkness always seems deepest right before God is poised to cause an explosion of blessings in our lives. When we are sitting on the beach, watching the ocean at the edge of dawn, God’s gift of life and light consumes us. Imagine the awe you’d feel as you watch the sunrise on a crystalline morning, your mind clear and your feet covered in warm sand. But that may not be your experience. You may first see the morning light in a place far less beautiful. Perhaps you’re sitting in your car in the parking lot of yet another church after a long, lonely drive, trying desperately to think of a plan that will help you sort out your life. Whatever your situation, darkness comes. It appears in many different forms and at awkward and tiring times in your life.

No matter the time or circumstances of its arrival, remember, we have a choice. We can always choose to find the light that is dimly illuminated within the darkness of our souls. When we do, we may just see the light as clearly as if we were sitting at the ocean. .” (Cleophes Carter Jr., explorefaith.org, Signposts – Daily Devotions, “Darkness Before Dawn”)

You have heard someone say it to you: “I found my glasses (or whatever they were seeking) in the last place I looked.” The funny thing is, it will always be the last place you look – for it is the “last” place that the search ends – with the epiphany of the find. You search and search, your mind getting darker and darker thinking about how you just cannot live without whatever it is you have lost: and then, eureka, a light shines upon the object – it has been found.

This is exactly how we may feel just before G-d does something amazing in our lives – or even just something very ordinary. We are feeling dark, our minds are getting fuzzy with confusion or despair, and all seems to be at its most difficult and lowest. And then, someone calls us on the phone – or a letter comes in the mail – or we find the object we were looking for, which might just be G-d – and the light shines in our lives again. But let me be clear, G-d has not left us in those moments. Instead we have allowed our focus on G-d to be distracted – to be dampened by the problems of this life. When Jesus confronted Paul on the road to Damascus, something like scales formed over his eyes. He sat in this darkness praying for three days. It was only when Ananias came to tell him Jesus had chosen him for ministry that the scales fell from his eyes. My friends, when the darkness envelopes us, when the problems of life take our focus off Christ, we need to remember often that Jesus has chosen us to receive his love, mercy and radical Grace, through our baptisms. Our baptisms, which is our chosen-ness, is the light that shines through the darkness of this life.

Pastor Dave