Treasures in Darkness

I will give you the treasures of darkness and the riches hidden in secret places. (Isaiah 45:6)

Most people prefer daylight to darkness. We feel safer in the light; we feel warmer, happier and more comfortable. However, with the light comes a drawback; it obscures the magnificent treasures that go on display in the heavens night after night. If light does not make way for darkness, these treasures would be lost to us and so would the awe and wonder they bring. 

Have you ever seen your shadow in the light of a full moon or sat out at midnight and watched a meteor shower? Have you noticed how the planet Mars shines in its golden splendour in the night sky just now? And what about comets and satellites, or have you ever seen the constellations through the veil of the Aurora Borealis? You never forget the wonder of that moment when you see it. But you can only see all these wonders when darkness falls.

There is a parallel to this in the spiritual world. We all enjoy times when our cares are few and our burdens are light; we all enjoy walking under a light filled heaven. However, there are treasures of the knowledge of God that we only find hidden in secret places of darkness;  facets of the character of God that we can only ever see when darkness falls. Sometimes He draws us aside in times of sorrow or disappointment and reveals Himself as our comforter. At other times, when dark clouds of fear or worry threaten to overwhelm us, the realisation dawns, no longer in our minds, but by experience, that ‘he will never fail you nor forsake you’. Deuteronomy 31:6 The knowledge of this causes us to feel that our feet are no longer just standing on the rock which is Christ, but they have become embedded in the Rock. 

At the age of 21, bereavement came knocking at my door; my father died. It was then that I understood and felt the triumphant truth of the words ‘death has been swallowed up in victory’! 1 Corinthians 15:54. It was true; it really was true!!

In natural life, we don’t like the darkness, but we love the treasures that are hidden there. How much truer is this of the treasures that God reveals to us in His secret places, which, although revealed to us in darkness, lead us into a blaze of light and an explosion of seeing, understanding and knowing His wonders. 

Pauline Anderson