The Thick Darkness
For C, with love
…Moses drew near to the thick darkness where God was.
Exodus 20:21
I awoke to the sound of hyenas last night. In the darkness, everything seemed wild and terrifying. Anything could happen, or so I thought in the inky black of my bedroom. Are they at my window? Will they devour me? Am I safe?
As my focus cut through the heavy blanket of sleep, I remembered the truth. I am in Kenya, there are many wild animals here, but I am safe. The hyenas cackled away as if my realization had them in stitches.
In the dark, everything can seem wild and terrifying. Anything could happen, right?
Sometimes, even God is shrouded in darkness. He who is the Light, to whom darkness is the same as light, can be hard to see. Humanity wants a God we can see and understand. One who speaks clearly, who makes sense, who is safe.
A God I cannot see in my inky blackness is a different matter. Is He in the sound of the hyenas? Am I safe?
The Israelites were terrified by what they heard in the dark. The Light was putting on a night show of His power in the sky: thunder, flashes of lightening, a trumpet, and a smoking mountain. In response, they sought comfort from one they could see. Brave Moses, friend of God, was safe to talk to. Even talk back to, complain to, shout to in anger. But God of the thick darkness? He might slay them simply by speaking to them (see Exodus 20:18-19).
Some in a dark season of life wish God would speak. Others, like the Israelites, are afraid of what He might say. Moses, however, drew near to the thick darkness because it was where God was. That same Moses, a short time later, would cry out to God, “If your presence will not go with me, do not bring us up from here!” (Exodus 33:15)
Moses wanted God more than he wanted safety.. So, he braved the thick darkness and drew near. #brave Share on XGod is present in the thick darknesses of our life. The writer of Psalm 88 concludes his lament with the honesty of millions: I’ve been betrayed even by the one closest to me. Darkness is my only companion.
David writes in Psalm 139 that even in darkness, we cannot hide from God’s presence. Darkness is as light to Him.
Jesus revealed himself as the Light of the World and His best friend John said that the Light of life came into the world and the darkness could not overcome it.
In darkness, the Spirit of God hovered, bent on creation. And the world was born.
God is a holy, powerful, mysterious God. He will be who He is in the dark.
Sometimes He will be silent. It is easy to mistake silence for absence. For those immobilized by fear or pain, a silent presence can be more powerful than one speaking incessantly, offering solutions and wise counsel.
Other times God will pierce our darkness with the lightening of His rescue (see Psalm 18).
Sometimes He will, indeed, speak in the darkness when we dare draw near. He will instruct us, and send us out to those standing at a distance, terrified.
We may be an Israelite or we may be a Moses. Perhaps today we need someone courageous enough to approach God in the thick darkness on our behalf. Or maybe we are the one with the courage to brave it for another. Either way, let’s not leave anyone alone in the dark.
Lord, I do not always understand You, but I will trust You. Even in the thick darkness. Amen.
Photo by Cherry Laithang on Unsplash
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