"Don't Be Fooled by the Darkness Before the Dawn" - Part II

“Don’t Be Fooled by the Darkness Before the Dawn” 

Part II

In Matthew 14:22-36, the evangelist records the familiar story of Jesus walking on water. Most people marvel at the Lord’s ability to surmount gravity and walk on water. Others chastise Peter for tempting the Lord and requesting to get out of the boat and walk on water like the Lord. But, additional details in this story build and strengthen faith. Following the feeding of five thousand men, not counting women and children possibly the feeding of fifteen thousand or more persons, Jesus offers a benediction and dismisses the crowd. He directs the disciples to get into a boat and travel to the other side of the lake. Later in the night while the boat was a good distance from the land, a squall erupts upon the water. Tremendous winds and waves batter the boat for hours. Assuredly, the disciples assume they will lose their lives. Imagine the foreboding feelings that filled their minds and hearts. For hours, they combat the storm which appears to defeat them. As they battle the storm, an understandable thought must have crossed their minds. “Where is Jesus? Why didn’t He join us? Had He been here, He could have calmed this storm in a matter of seconds.” 

Notice Jesus sends them in the direction of this storm and penetrating darkness. Consider further that He allows them to linger in danger and despair for hours. Jesus providentially delays His appearance to create the miracle of faith in the disciples’ minds, hearts and guts. The text does not say whether the disciples prayed or called out to Jesus as they fought the storm. The King James Version says, “And in the fourth watch of the night, Jesus went unto to them, walking on the sea.” He appears to them during the deepest and darkest period in the night. Initially, when they see Him, they assume it is a ghost. Their assessment is understandable considering their physical exhaustion and mental bewilderment at this point of conflict with the storm. Until one of them cries out, “It is the Lord,” they were fooled by the darkness before the dawn. However, Jesus reassures them, “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.”  Similarly, the Lord visits us and offers words of empowerment and hope. He reminds us that He is always with us. He never leaves nor does He forsake us. He tells us to renounce insidious fear. The Lord encourages us to take refuge in His presence and power. In a sense, He admonishes us not to be fooled by the darkness before the dawn.

I conclude this encouraging column with a true story that a colleague shared with me years ago. Unexpectedly, a local bank called a loan upon a female banker who lost her husband in the previous year. Bank officials notified her on the first day of the month. The loan had to be repaid in full by the last day of the month. Otherwise, the bank would foreclose and siege her farm. As this widow and her son did not have any other assets, connections or resources, the bank could have called the loan on that day. They would have thirty days to discard, clean and pack their belongings. After the death of her husband, this financial dilemma occasioned the darkest hour of her life. A stalwart woman of faith, this woman did not prepare to leave her house and farm. She decided she would trust God to deliver her from this gloomy predicament. At the beginning of the second week, a construction manager drove up the extended driveway to inquire about buying mountains of dirt he saw stored on the farm. A few miles away from the lady’s farm, he was building a new complex. He needed dirt to fill in the land and construct the foundation. As this manager analyzed the numbers, he would lose money and profitability in buying and hauling dirt from town. Time, gasoline, labor and equipment charges would erode his profit margins and prevent a bonus for early completion. This manager could regain control of finances, logistics, scope and timeframe of the project were he to buy dirt from the female farmer. When he reached the porch, he described his dilemma and asked about the cost of the farmer’s dirt. Naturally, she demanded the amount of the outstanding loan. On that day, the manager thought the amount was too much. He felt the same way a week later. The woman could not lower her price. Without the full amount of the loan, she would lose the farm regardless. The construction manager paid the woman a final visit within a few days of the end of the month. She did not budge on the price of the dirt which represented the value of her farm. For the manager, however, he had already begun to bear the burden of buying and transporting dirt from town. Met with that reality and the female farmer’s firmness, the construction agreed to her price and terms.

Relying genuinely upon Almighty God to deliver her, this female farmer refused to be fooled by the darkness before the dawn. She resolved God would be as faithful in that crisis as He had in every previous challenge. Remember God does His best work in darkness. “Don’t be fooled by the darkness before the dawn.”