Sunday, September 07, 2008

In the Dark, by Lon Alderman

Matthew 10:27
Whatever I tell you in the dark, speak in the light; and what you hear in the ear, preach on the housetops.

"Don't keep me in the dark!" That's a plea to be included; kept in the loop. Sometimes in our relationship with Jesus it feels like He's keeping us in the dark. During these times our attempts to communicate with God seem fruitless.

I find Oswald Chamber's ideas regarding this passage very interesting:

"Sometimes God puts us through the experience and discipline of darkness to teach us to hear and obey Him. Song birds are taught to sing in the dark, and God puts us into "the shadow of His hand" until we learn to hear Him (Isaiah 49:2)...darkness is the time to listen. Don’t talk to other people about it; don’t read books to find out the reason for the darkness; just listen and obey. If you talk to other people, you cannot hear what God is saying. When you are in the dark, listen, and God will give you a very precious message for someone else once you are back in the light." [View the entire article: Chambers]

1 comment:

Jarvis said...

That is so true--in hindsight. I have so many friends ask me what to do when they're walking through the valley of darkness. I have rarely got a "your right!" response upon telling them, "I don't know why you're there; ask God." This is starting to sound a lot like that 'Fire Insurance' comment from the other day! Isn't it funny how willing we become to approach the throne of grace, once a measure of grace has been lifted? Staying there long enough to get an answer seems to be a whole other matter... Just one more example of how I would have used other methods to get draw stubborn people's attention to myself. The patience, grace, and slow pressure method is probably a whole lot healthier in the long run than my 'quick back-hand and a couple of lightening bolts' suggestion. Not that I would ever need that you understand! lol