Treasures In the Darkness

The other day, a woman I know shared this with me in response to the Corona virus situation. What she said moved me so much, that it drove me to write this about Good Friday.

I asked her if I could share her words on this blog. She agreed but asked I not share her name. She gives her words to God’s glory, not her own. I hope they move you as much as they moved me. They feel perfect for the dark Sabbath that fell between Good Friday and Easter Sunday.

Image by Three-shots from Pixabay

Isaiah 43:5 – “I will give you the treasures of darkness….”

God is speaking to His anointed – in this instance Cyrus, who allowed the Israelites to return from captivity in Babylon to their homeland of Israel. But perhaps it has a message for us today. “I will give you the treasures of darkness.”

Treasures of darkness. There are treasures in the darkness?

We are in a time of darkness – our nation, the world, maybe even personally. Darkness. A time of moving slower, feeling insecure, unable to see clearly. Darkness is a time of lurking shadows, blurry images, uncertainty about where the path leads. It causes us to feel insecure, unsure, and perhaps a little anxious and afraid. Let’s look closer.

“The LORD says He would dwell in the thick darkness.” 1 Kings 8:12
“Moses drew near to the thick darkness where God was.” Exodus 20:21

I always thought that God dwelt in unapproachable light, but it seems apparent that He dwells in darkness as well. Remember the Psalmist who asked, “Where can I go from Your presence? If I go up to the heavens You are there; if I make my bed in the depths, You are there.” It seems there is no place where God is not present. You know – Omnipresent.

So we can take comfort in the truth that God is present with us in this darkness. God caused a plague of darkness that could be felt to fall upon Eygpt, out of which His people would soon be delivered. God gave Moses the 10 commandments in the thick dark cloud on Mt. Sinai. God strengthened Jacob when he wrestled with God in the darkness and wouldn’t let go until he was blessed. God caused a deep darkness to fall on the world for three hours while Jesus hung on the cross, but out of that darkness our Redeemer emerged. Treasures of darkness. Treasures of guidance and direction, of strength and blessing, of the promise of deliverance, of the Divine enactment of salvation. What amazing treasures we find in the darkness!

Notice that a treasure is not usually something that is shining in plain sight – easy to spot. Treasure is in places of mystery, often hidden – unless we purpose to search for it. In this time of darkness, a lurking plague, an unseen enemy – what treasures might we find? The key word is “find” – we have to seek to find.

In a sense, it feels like the thick darkness of Good Friday, followed by the lingering darkness of Holy Saturday. We are living in a “Saturday” time right now, but let’s prepare to join Mary and the other women as they make their way to the tomb on that Sunday morning. They had no idea how the stone could be rolled away; they knew they didn’t have the strength or power to do it – but they went to the tomb, prepared, anyway.

We don’t know what the next days and weeks will bring; we don’t have the power to roll the stone of Covid19 away, but we can prepare ourselves during this time of darkness and uncertainty until an Angel of the Lord comes to roll the stone away.

Until then, what treasures might YOU find in this darkness?

The Salvation of The Cross

Happy Easter everyone!

It’s become a tradition to share this every Easter. Please enjoy and share it.

Rejoice!

The Workbench of Faith

Image courtesy of bela_kiefer/freedigitalphotos.net

Last year, one of our church members recited a poem during service that struck me to the core.  The poet, Mark Meadows, wrote and recited this poem with his church on the day he accepted Christ as his savior.  I listened to the words amazed at their simplicity and beauty and knew I wanted to share it here. Mark Meadows kindly gave me permission to share his poem on this blog.  Mark, also, indicated that he doesn’t mind if people share it, so feel free to pass this along to others.

(This is a revised repost of my Easter post last year.)

All of Me

Oh Lord, here alone I stand
Reaching out to touch your nail scarred hand
I take myself back to the time that you were on that tree
Thinking, Lord, of the love and the blood you shed for me
All alone…

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Seeds of Faith

Seeds fell on my soul for years before I began to understand the message of salvation and grace.  I can look back through my story and find seeds planted by a variety of people throughout my life.  For many years, the seeds lay dormant, waiting for water and fertilizer to make them grow.

He also said, “This is what the kingdom of God is like. A man scatters seed on the ground. Night and day, whether he sleeps or gets up, the seed sprouts and grows, though he does not know how.  All by itself the soil produces grain—first the stalk, then the head, then the full kernel in the head.  As soon as the grain is ripe, he puts the sickle to it, because the harvest has come.” Mark 4:26-29

I’ve attributed a lot of my salvation to the church I attended in my early twenties, but it’s not the church that saved me.  The church embraced me so I could accept the water and fertilizer and sunshine needed to help those seeds sprout and grow.  My revelations during the singles retreat  allowed the seeds to crack open, bits of green pushing against the soil.

From that point on, I chose to expose myself to the teaching and study of the Bible.  Even doing this, it took another year before I truly understood the crucifixion and resurrection. I had begun to study the Bible through other books as well as reading scripture.  One of the books I read was Max Lucado’s book about the time Jesus spent on the cross, Six Hours One Friday.

I remember vividly the moment I understood.  I often  read before bedtime and had reached the part where Lucado explains how Christ took on our sins and God, his father, could not look on him while he did this. This is why he cried out:

“Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” (which means “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”).  Matthew 27:46

For the first time ever, God left Jesus.  He was completely separated from the father.

As a child I thought the point of the cross was to show that Jesus could return from the dead thus proving he was the son of God.  I did not understand that he took on all of the sins of the world. No one explained it to me before.  No one.  I guess everyone assumed that as a Christian I knew this.  I didn’t.

What a revelation!  Now, everything began to fall into place.  My little seedling pushed through the crust of the soil and reached toward the son in humility and joy.

I wonder how many people have seeds just waiting for those first drops of water, for that one point when the life inside their shell pushes forward to blossom  into a life of grace?