There is a lot of dark going on in the world right now. A lot of evil things that do not make sense to believers. The other morning while I spending time in the Word, and honestly worrying about the state of our country and generation, I read Psalms 139. This Psalm has been what I’ve been clinging to in the last year. After having my second daughter and staying home with my babies, I had a real identity crisis. Postpartum depression played a role, but I honestly just felt like I lost myself and needed to relearn who I was (still in the process of doing this).
So, naturally I chose Psalm 139 to be my go to scripture for the year. This is a chapter in the Bible that reminds us over and over again that we are chosen and uniquely crafted by God for a purpose. Every time I read this chapter, I am reminded of the care God put into creating me and that even my bad days weren’t enough to stop Him from giving me life. Which brings me to the verse that struck me in my reading. One of my favorite verse s of the Psalm is verse 12: “even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for the darkness is as light to you.”
Typically when I read this verse, I think of my own personal “darkness” and how my sin does not scare God away. These words remind me that His love shines through the darkest parts of my story and make a beautiful light that glorifies Him.
But with all the heaviness of the world on my mind, I read those words and realized it wasn’t just an internal darkness that David was talking about. The evil in this world does not surprise God. He is not caught off guard by tragedies. Even the darkness of the worlds worst events can not shake God Almighty.
What a relief! All the scary things that we have no control over in this world do not phase God. Yes His heart breaks with the broken hearted. Yes He feels the weight of sin. But the darkness is not dark to Him. He shines through the darkness to His wonderful light. The light that gives us hope for what is to come. Hope that reminds us that this world is not the end. There are good things that can come from horrible events. It is our human nature to ignore that truth in the midst of pain, but God is doing something in that pain.
As Christians, it is difficult right now to look at the world not feel terrified for what the future holds. But we don’t really need to be looking toward the future. No, we need to be looking toward the Light. We need to “fix our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of our faith” (Hebrews 12:2). Focusing on the darkness does not help because in the eyes of our Creator, the darkness is only a way to show more light.