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

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

Part I

This saying affirms God’s unquestioned faithfulness in response to a disciple’s genuine and humble faith in Him. Florence Scovel Shinn encourages believers to repeat this affirmation as they wait for a demonstration of God’s love and purpose. The hours just before dawn are the deepest and darkness ones of night. It is impossible to see anything. Whether with a candle, flashlight, headlamps, campfire, fireplace or nighttime infrared technology, you are unable to see even an inch in front of you. Your eyes naturally adjust to darkness with extremely limited visibility. Negotiating a darkened space contains immediate risks with potentially longstanding injury. As you traverse, penetratingly bleak periods in life, you face formidable challenges to your faith. Will you remain steadfastly faithful in your verbal and mental affirmation of God’s trustworthiness? Will you rely genuinely upon Him and His Word as you await its manifestation in your life? In the indefinable darkness of the fourth watch of the night, fears form easily in your mind and heart. You hear every single noise regardless of how small. You jump at an instant. You yearn for dawn and daylight. Applied to life, these feelings and emotions test your faith in God. If you allow the darkness to fool you, undoubtedly, you conclude God abandoned you during your toughest trial and temptation. You understandably resort to self-reliance. However, Shinn’s admonition and recommendation are apropos. “Don’t be fooled by the darkness before the dawn.”

Ironically, God does His best work in the darkness. In Mark’s resurrection account, the disciples arrive at the empty tomb “just after sunrise.”  According to John’s account, “Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance.”  God performs the ultimate miracle, the resurrection of Jesus from the dead, during the fourth watch of the night. As everyone slept and rested from their labors, they were oblivious to this incredible miracle that would change the life of anyone who believes the prophets and what the Lord foretold them. The same power that raised Jesus from the dead is available to you to triumph over any adversity. Still, a life of faith requires your unwavering willingness to proclaim God’s goodness and grace in disconsolate times. You do not permit the darkness to limit your faith in God. A friend of mine uses a helpful analogy. He appropriates the period of intermission at the theater. The stage goes completely dark as the curtain closes. To the audience, it appears nothing is happening. Many persons leave for a restroom break or to consume refreshment. When the next act begins, they pleasantly discover a wholesale rearrangement of the stage. Its reconfiguration of props, furniture and scenery was necessary for the plot to proceed. Likewise, in our lives, God reorders our purpose before we are ready for the next chapter. In the darkness where dread and danger lurk, we become less self-reliant.  We are more open to discerning His will and divine design for us. It is important that we are not fooled by the darkness but appreciate it as a time of miraculous growth.

What do we do when God appears silent and late? Impatience inevitably leads to mistakes. Anxiety compels action which seems preferable to inaction.  Exaggerated feelings distort perspective and shortchange deliberative cognitive and intuitive processes. A resulting rush to judgment not surprisingly yields missteps. Fear is even more deadly as it coerces reckless behavior. It becomes so palatable that you become willing to do anything to discard this toxic emotion. It is easy to resort to underdeveloped plans to achieve a semblance of resolution. Even devout disciples have stumbled inadvertently into criminal acts because their anxiety about debt and need of money make an impossibly good offer seem reasonable. They falsely think that they can complete just one drug deal, robbery or embezzlement. Fear additionally conceives anger, resentment, bitterness and other poisonous emotions. This negativity nullifies faith. You begin to justify faithlessness in response to God’s perceived abandonment. Practically, you stop attending collective worship, cease Bible study, rebuff spiritual disciplines, spurn mentoring, refuse to pray and lapse into a major depression. Interestingly, the things that you stop doing are activities you should do.

When it seems darkness eclipses God’s presence, it is the perfect time to pray. Dispense with meaningless ritualism about prayer and simply have a face-to-face conversation with the Lord. Share forthrightly what is on your heart and mind. Do not mince words. Consider Celie, who in the opening chapter of Alice Walker’s The Color Purple, frankly tells God about the incest she is experiencing.  Detail the depth and breadth of your fears, complaints and requests.  Prayer is the perfect antidote to stress and anxiety.  If left untreated, these emotions eventuate in immoral and unethical behavior. Second, reflect upon God’s enduring faithfulness to you. The author of the book of Deuteronomy regards reflection as a type of prayer. He reminds his audience of God’s great deeds when they enter the Promised Land and their inheritance of material, financial and spiritual blessings of God’s covenant with them. Third, meditate on the goodness of God who pledges to keep you in perfect peace if you focus fervently and explicitly upon Him. (Isaiah 26:3) Steadfast recollection of God’s grace obliterates fear. Fourth, write a gratitude list of all the things for which you are thankful to God. Before you realize it, your list will easily have more items than you first imagined. Fifth, listening to music always bolsters faith. Chances are you have favorite songs, religious and secular, that encourage and empower your inner person. As “music soothes the savage beast,” it powerfully annihilates fear in all its ghastly and cunning forms. Sixth, physical exercise is a formidable corrective to anxiety and other ruinous emotions. It yields greater energy with which to combat internal enemies. Seventh, faithfully fellowship with a group of like-minded believers with whom you share the journey of faith. “Iron sharpens iron.” Eighth, finally, consider supplemental help of spiritual direction, pastoral counseling or psychoanalysis. God effectively uses these alternative means as He does other ones. Nevertheless, the foregoing spiritual disciplines prevent the darkness from overwhelming you as you wait upon the Lord.