The Darker The Night

“God’s promises are like the stars; the darker the night, the brighter they shine.”  (David Nicholas)

We must face the truth.  If we do that, we will have to confess that the times we are living in right now – today – are very dark times.  If you listen to too much news it can be very disturbing and depressing; and, when we do that, we are giving the evil one in this world a foothold in our lives – he loves to exploit our weaknesses.  He will use those reports we listen to for his benefit to bring us down emotionally and spiritually – maybe even physically.  He wants us to focus on the negative around us because it makes it easier for him to manipulate us.

I have heard stories that have come out during the past few months of difficulties the world has been enduring – stories of so many suicides, drug overdoses, depression, anxiety, spousal abuse, child abuse and on and on.  All of this is understandable considering what we are surrounded with day after day.  But it does not need to be that way.  We do not have to give in to all the darkness.  We need to keep ourselves focused on the Light of the world.  It does not mean that we ourselves might not suffer some of the miseries, but we have a strength to deal with it that others might not.  

I have disliked what we have had to endure as much as the next person.  I did not like basically being locked in my home, then when I did get out having to wear a mask.  I did not like the isolation from my friends and the activities I was accustomed to enjoying.  But I will tell you that I never did feel at all depressed and only on one short occasion (for about 24 hours) I felt a bit of anxiety.  Each day I have just gotten up and enjoyed my prayer and Bible study time, then have filled my time with trivial things to pass the day.  I know that at some point this will pass and I just have to make the best of a bad situation for now. 

What we must remember is that no matter what is going on around us, as Christians we only need to keep our eyes on God.  We need to remember the many, many promises in His Word that will keep us stable and healthy.  Like the quote at the beginning of this article says, we need to remember that when that darkness envelopes us, God can and will shine through.  Darkness cannot exist when there is light.  Think about it, if you are in a completely dark room and light even a little match or a small candle you can see your way around that darkness; and, as long as that match or candle is ignited the darkness cannot overtake you.  The light in our lives is Jesus, our Saviour.  

“The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it.” John 1:5 NLT

Now is an excellent time to devote yourself to do some research on all the promises of God.  Believe me, there are enough of them in His Word that you likely will not be able to study them all in one day.  However, to claim the promises of God, you need to believe in God, you need to be a Christian.  So, the most important promise in His Word is this one:  “If you openly declare that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”  Romans 10:9 NLT

These are a few of the promises that Jesus Himself spoke:

“‘Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.’”  Matthew 11:28-29 NIV

“‘I am leaving you with a gift—peace of mind and heart! And the peace I give isn’t fragile like the peace the world gives. So don’t be troubled or afraid.’”  John 14:27 TLB

“‘I have come as a light to shine in this dark world, so that all who put their trust in me will no longer remain in the dark.’”  John 12:46 NLT

A couple of other especially encouraging promises are:

“…overwhelming victory is ours through Christ who loved us enough to die for us. For I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from his love. Death can’t, and life can’t. The angels won’t, and all the powers of hell itself cannot keep God’s love away. Our fears for today, our worries about tomorrow, or where we are—high above the sky, or in the deepest ocean—nothing will ever be able to separate us from the love of God demonstrated by our Lord Jesus Christ when he died for us.  Romans 8:37b-39 TLB

“He gives power to the tired and worn out, and strength to the weak. Even the youths shall be exhausted, and the young men will all give up. But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength. They shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.”  Isaiah 40:29-31 TLB

If you do not walk with God, if you have never accepted Jesus as your Saviour, then now is the time to do so.  You do not want your time on this earth to come to an end with this decision left undone.  Check out this promise:  “Work hard for sin your whole life and your pension is death. But God’s gift is real life, eternal life, delivered by Jesus, our Master.”  Romans 6:23 MSG  

That promise  should be incentive enough to do what is necessary to guarantee the Light in your life!

My pastor Jimmy Evans is preaching about the end times this month – which by the way,  he believes is upon us.  This weekend in his sermon there was two things he said that I wanted to share with you:

1.  “Keep your eyes on God and don’t get too focused on the world.” 
2.  “It is not time for us to bow our knee to political correctness or to water down our faith to make somebody else feel good.”   

It is straight up time for us to focus on the important things in life, and that is to have God’s light burning bright on us and in us; and, to be bold, speaking the truth about Him and the importance of salvation.  When Jesus returns for the believers you DO NOT want to be left behind.

Let God’s promises shine like the stars in this dark world and your life will be changed forever.

Written by Karran Martin – August 15, 2020