Is God in the Thick Darkness?
How to Have Confidence in God During the Dark Times of Life
My husband and I are currently Associates in Missions in Costa Rica. When God began directing us to Costa Rica, we had many wonderful experiences that confirmed the calling. Great men of God spoke into our lives. Our application for missions was approved promptly without question. My husband’s employer fully supported a significant change that made the move possible. We met and fell in love with the missionary family in Costa Rica. Life was bright and cheery!
Then came the days of trials, many trials. As one example, our house did not sell as quickly as we expected. In a real estate market when houses were selling before they even hit the MLS listings, we expected our house to sell quickly. We had done everything our very qualified real estate agent had suggested, including painting the inside, replacing all of the appliances, taking down all of the hanging pictures and window treatments. But the house didn’t sell quickly.
Our very bright and cheery time of anticipation and preparation turned into a very dark time. Would our finances hold out if the house didn’t sell soon? Should I go ahead and quit my job as planned? Should we move to Costa Rica with the house on the market? God, are you telling us not to go? Have we missed something? The questions just continued getting more desperate as the house sat on the market. Then the cars (yes, that is plural) broke down. We needed to sell the cars before going to Costa Rica. We were told that repairs on one of the cars would cost around $10,000. $10,000 just to repair a car and sell it! Even with the repairs the car would not have been worth $10,000. God, where are you? What are you doing? What are we supposed to do? It got dark very fast. The darkness just kept getting thicker and thicker as we approached the date for me to quit my job and board a plane to Costa Rica the following day. God, are you in this?
Life is full of trials. Currently many people in the world are experiencing great darkness due to the COVID-19 pandemic. We have all had many trials in our lives and watched others as they go through trials in their lives. Many trials are unspeakable! Some are brought on by our own decisions or our humanity. Some occur because God is testing us. It is often difficult to tell which is which. We refer to the times of trials as dark times. And we often wonder if God is in the darkness with us.
My question for you today is this: Does God dwell in the darkness and can we be confident He is there? We will determine how we can be confident God is in the darkness of our lives by considering the compatibility of darkness and light, examples of dark times in the Old Testament and an apparent contradiction with the New Testament, and a dark time in King David’s life. We will then discover a plan for determining if God is in the thick darkness.
Compatibility of Darkness and Light
Isaiah describes the glory of the Lord in His people as light and the world as darkness (Isaiah 60:1-3). God’s glory shines through His people in the darkness of the world. The Apostle Paul lists a number of things that are opposites and cannot be yoked or bound together, including light and darkness (2 Corinthians 6:14-17). The light of God is not compatible with darkness. So, if we are in dark trials of life, can God be there? We so often feel alone in the darkness of our trials. Can God possibly be there with us and can we be confident that He is?
Dark Times in the Old Testament – An Apparent Contradiction
During the dedication of Solomon’s temple, the priests came out of the holy place after placing the Ark of the Covenant there. The cloud filled the house of the Lord, so that the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud (1 Kings 8:10). King Solomon explained that the Lord had said He would dwell in the thick darkness (1 Kings 8:12). How can that be? Light and darkness are not compatible.
Also, when the people of Israel were gathered at the base of Mount Sinai, God spoke the Ten Commandments out of darkness. The people saw the thundering, the lightnings, and the mountain smoking. And Moses approached God in the thick darkness (Exodus 20:18-21).
In both of these situations, God was in the darkness. Is it possible that God can be in the darkness of our trials?
Clearly, Israel recognized God in the thundering, lightnings, and the mountain smoking. But they weren’t delighted about it. They were fearful. Moses had to calm them by explaining, “Fear not: for God is come to prove you, and that his fear may be before your faces, that ye sin not.” (Exodus 20:20 KJV.)
What about the priests that came out of the holy place? The priests couldn’t stand to minister because they couldn’t see through the thick darkness and they were afraid. Just as Moses had to calm Israel at the base of Mount Sinai, Solomon had to calm the priests in the temple, explaining “The Lord said He would dwell in the thick darkness.” (1 Kings 8:12.)
We now see that God does dwell in the darkness. And yet the Apostle Paul told us God has no relationship with darkness (2 Corinthians 6:14-17). This seems to be a contradiction in the Word. But that cannot be true because “the word of the Lord is flawless.” (Psalms 18:30 NIV.)
There is no contradiction here. There are two different words used in the original text that mean different things. The Hebrew word “araphel” in the Old Testament means the literal darkness of a cloud or absence of light. In the New Testament, the Greek word “skotos” means darkened eyesight or blindness. Metaphorically, it refers to ignorance respecting divine things and the accompanying ungodliness and immorality.
At the dedication of Solomon’s temple and the base of Mount Sinai as God spoke the Ten Commandments, there was literal darkness. In contrast, Paul spoke of the metaphorical darkness of the unbelievers in his second letter to the church in Corinth.
When reading the scripture in any English translation, the reader may think there is a contradiction among these scriptures because the reader doesn’t know there is a difference in these words without searching further. The same can be said about when we face dark times in our lives. We may not know when God is dwelling in the darkness without searching for Him.
A Dark Time for King David
Consider David’s song to the Lord in 2 Samuel 22:1-18. David sang of a very dark time in his life, “When the waves of death compassed me, the floods of ungodly men made me afraid; the sorrows of hell compassed me about; the snares of death prevented me; ….” (2 Samuel 22:5-6). Then David praised God for deliverance, describing the situation as darkness being under God’s feet (2 Samuel 22:10) and God making darkness a pavilion around Him (2 Samuel 22:12).
David didn’t know that God was in the darkness when going through the trial as indicated by his fear and sorrow. He wasn’t praising God as if He was present in the darkness. David wasn’t aware of His presence until after the trial was over.
Be encouraged during times of darkness in your life. Just as the different meanings of the original words used in the Old and New Testament scriptures are not obvious to us today, neither is it obvious when we are going through dark times whether or not God is dwelling in that darkness. Even David did not know until the trial was over; until God had delivered him.
Determining if God is in the Thick Darkness
We can learn from Solomon how to tell whether God is in the darkness of our lives or if the darkness is a consequence of our own decisions or humanity (1 Kings). When in the dark times, look back to see if you were busy doing the things Solomon was doing prior to the darkness in the temple. If so, you can be confident God is dwelling in the darkness that you are experiencing.
Solomon loved the Lord, walked according to the statutes of God, and made sacrifices to Him (1 Kings 3:3). He walked humbly before God and sought understanding and discernment (1 Kings 3:5, 7-10). He rested in the peace God provided and he purposed to build a place for God in his life (1 Kings 5:4-5).
Solomon demonstrated a long-term commitment and effort to having the Lord near when He took 7 years to build the temple (1 Kings 6:38). He respected the things the generation before him had dedicated to the Lord. He did not forsake those things as demonstrated by bringing into the temple the things his father had dedicated (1 Kings 7:51).
Solomon shared the presence of God with all who would join him by assembling the elders of Israel, and all the heads of the tribes, and the chief of the fathers of the children of Israel (1 Kings 8:1-3).
As a result of this way of life prior to encountering the darkness, Solomon was confident the Lord was in the darkness. Solomon was able to continue dedicating the temple and to encourage and bless others who were fearful as a result of the darkness (1 Kings 8:12).
If prior to encountering the dark times in our lives we were busy doing the things that Solomon was doing, we can be confident that God is in the darkness. We can continue dedicating ourselves to him and blessing and encouraging others around us. What are those things?
- Love the Lord.
- Humbly walk according to Biblical teachings.
- Sacrifice our fleshly desires by prayer, fasting, and seeking godly counsel in our lives.
- Seek understanding and discernment.
- Rest in God’s peace that passes understanding.
- Intentionally build a place in our lives for God.
- Demonstrate a long-term commitment to God by continuing in these things during good and bad times.
- Respect the teachings of Christians who came before us and protect the things they dedicated to God.
- Share God’s love with all who will listen to you and join you.
By walking according to these Biblical principles, when our lives become so dark that we have difficulty seeing God and we begin questioning the very foundations of our faith, we can turn to Him with confidence and continue in faith until we see the deliverance, just as David did.
You can walk with confidence in God even in the thick darkness.
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32 Comments
Yoli Mora Marín
Gracias mi amada hermana Julie, leer cada uno de los blogs me ha ayuda aprender y a crecer espiritualmente; en lo personal conozco los tiempos oscuros muy de cerca y definitivamente se que Dios ha estado ahí para darme su ayuda en el momento justo.
Hoy puedo comparar que si para rescatarnos, nuestro Dios desnudo su brazo y atravesó el fango y el lodo del pecado que nos envolvia, de la misma forma hoy para librarnos, su Gloria atraviesa cualquier oscuridad que nos envuelva.
Definitivamente eso me da más seguridad de lo que Dios esta haciendo en mi ministerio, cada día veo más de su gloria.
Dios te siga llenado de su sabiduria!
Julie McGhghy
Amén hermana Yoli. Gracias por tu comentario.
David Schwarz
Julie, Thank you for this word through your blog. It is easy to believe that God is in the light since he is light but until we realize that He is the God of all things and in all things we will not have confidence to trust him in all things. Your real life situations as revealed in this blog helps others to see that God works with us and helps us in real life situations. You bring it out in a way that is not some super spiritual way out there thing. You are helping people to connect the dots. He only expects us to do all we can and must do according to His word and then He does the rest according to His will. This is a great journey. Thanks for all you are doing.
Julie
Thank you for your kinds words of encouragement. I love God’s Word and trust it to touch the hearts of the readers of these blog posts.
David Showalter
Sis McGhyghy, it would be interesting to know how God worked things out for you folks with the house and the cars.
Julie
Oh, thank you for giving me an opportunity to share the rest of the story! We repaired one of the cars at minimal cost and sold it. We already had a buyer for the other car that needed the major repairs. So, we advised the buyer of the problems with the car, he took the car to his mechanic who confirmed the issues, and he bought the car anyway albeit at a lower price, which was fine with us.
The house sold shortly after we arrived in Costa Rica. We needed the proceeds of the house to start the immigration process, rent and furnish a home, and buy a car. The sale of the house closed on the day before we needed the money to start the immigration process and we were able to rent and furnish a home and buy the car when we needed to! God is an on-time God! Hallelujah!
¡Oh, gracias por darme la oportunidad de compartir el resto de la historia! Reparamos uno de los autos a un costo mínimo y lo vendimos. Ya teníamos un comprador para el otro automóvil que necesitaba reparaciones importantes. Por lo tanto, le informamos al comprador sobre los problemas con el automóvil, llevó el automóvil a su mecánico, quien confirmó los problemas, y de todos modos compró el automóvil, aunque a un precio más bajo, lo cual estuvo bien para nosotros.
La casa se vendió poco después de llegar a Costa Rica. Necesitábamos las ganancias de la casa para comenzar el proceso de inmigración, alquilar y amueblar una casa y comprar un automóvil. ¡La venta de la casa cerró el día antes de que necesitáramos el dinero para comenzar el proceso de inmigración y pudimos alquilar y amueblar una casa y comprar el automóvil cuando lo necesitábamos! ¡Dios es un Dios a tiempo! ¡Aleluya!
José Pablo Murillo
Bendiciones hermana Julie. Una vez más, gracias por este hermoso mensaje. Yo creo que Dios está en todo lugar, en la luz y en la oscuridad; los que nos alejamos de Dios somos nosotros.
Gracias por compartir la palabra del Señor Jesús, y este tipo de mensajes nos hace reflexionar en nuestro caminar y ver física y espiritualmente la misericordia de Dios para cada uno de nosotros.
Julie
Gracias hermano Pablo. Me alienta cuando las personas leen las publicaciones y reflexionan sobre sus propios paseos con Dios. ¡Aprecio que tú y yo compartamos un amor por la Palabra de Dios y nuestro Señor Jesús!
Mickey Gardiner
Julie, what a timely message in light of all that is going on in America at this time. Anger and fear seem to be ruling. Trusting God in the darkness and chaos is challenging right now, but it is vital if we want to be light in the dark world – “let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.”
I appreciate you!
Julie
Amen!
Marty Wildman
Great stuff Julie. We miss you all so much. A few months ago before COVID 19, I was preparing for a future Sunday school lesson and my title was this “ Fearing Nothing in Front of You Because Of Who Is Behind You. I did not know what that meant at the time. Today I can say I know what it means. When our circumstances seems so big that they scare us we don’t have to worry because we have a Bigger than life God behind us. He is always a on-time God.
Julie
Thank you, Marty. He certainly is an on-time God!
Ashley
This reminds me of the story behind the hymn “It is Well with My Soul.” It was written during a time of great tragedy and devastation – “whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to say, ‘It is well, it is well with my soul.’” I love the verse that says God is our strong confidence. I really relate to the intro of your blog – I love that distinction and I want to begin doing the same – walking confidently with God. Both blogs so far have been extremely encouraging. Thank you!
Julie
Ashley, thank you so much for your comment. “It is Well with My Soul” is a great hymn to cling to during the dark times in our lives. Also, Mercy Me’s modern twist to that helps focus us on God when we are in dark times, “I know You’re able and I know You can save through the fire with Your mighty hand, but even if You don’t my hope is You alone”.
Kristen Ellis
What a timely post! I LOVED the insight you gave concerning the OT word for darkness and the NT word for darkness. I always find examples in Scripture to be so comforting, like the one of Sinai you used. These examples in Scripture not only show God’s faithfulness but also remind us that we are not alone in our experiences.
Julie
Thank you so much for your comment. I agree completely that scriptural examples help us to know we are not alone.
Diana L Hines
This topic reminds me of the song, Way Maker. “Even when I don’t see it, your working.” Many times we are so caught up in the darkness, we allow fear to make it even darker.
As you know, my last year at work was very dark. The darkness had such a grip on me that I was drowning in my own fear and tried doing everything in my power to handle the situation. But, when I finally turned it completely over to God, He moved in such a way that I never expected and my eyes were opened to realize that He was right there with me the entire time and not only heard my prayers but answered them above and beyond what I expected. I have always had confidence in God’s ability but sometimes lack the confidence that He hears me. Even though He has always and I do mean ALWAYS provided for me.
You are a good teacher and this lesson has caused me to look deeper within myself to try to understand why this lack of confidence exists.
Love and miss you!
Julie
Oh, Diana, how I remember the darkness you walked through. And how I am inspired by how God worked it all out for your good, exceeded anything you could have imagined, and has been glorified through the situation. Thank you for sharing and for your kind words.
Diana
Loved your topic! And learned some new things! Very important perspective in this challenging dark time. Appreciate you and your writing ministry so very much. Ran into someone today at TCC who follows your blog and has been greatly blessed by it! Keep writing! Hard to believe you and Mike have been in Costa Rica for a year! WOW! Love and miss you both. Always in our prayers.
Julie
Thank you for your kind words of encouragement and your prayers! Mike and I are so thankful for all that you poured into us as we prepared to minister in Costa Rica.
Nathan
That’s a great lesson, Sis. Julie. It reminds me of the recent song, “Thy Will Be Done”.
“I don’t want to think, I may never understand, that my broken heart is a part of your plan.”
It’s difficult to understand why God operates as He does sometimes because we don’t see the end as He does. Watching you and Mike get ready to leave and wade through the difficulties you discussed in your post…watching you persevere…watching you now fulfilling your ministry. It’s all a tremendous faith builder to your TCC family!
Julie
Bro. Nathan, thank you so much for commenting and your kind words. Tomorrow we will have been in Costa Rica for 1 year! And this year has been nothing like what we expected when we recognized God calling us to Costa Rica. But what God taught us through all of the trials as we prepared to come here was that we need to be flexible because nothing will be as we expect it to be. And that has been so true! But because God taught us to be flexible even before we needed to be, this year has been wonderful regardless of some challenges, including the COVID-19 restrictions. To God be all the glory! He is great and greatly to be praised!
Brenda
These past weeks of pandemic I began to question God, I felt fear come over me and ask God are you here because loneliness tried to smother me at one point. Through prayer and reading scriptures and God showing me through an experience years ago that He was there all the time and is there now through it all. I enjoy all of this it is so encouraging and helps me to know he is still there.
Julie
Brenda, thank you for your comment and for illustrating how we can search for God in the darkness by praying, reading scriptures, and being sensitive to Him guiding us through our lives to show us how He has been there all along.
Jennifer
Acertado. Creo también que muchas veces tenemos temor porque sabemos nuestro proceder, realmente no desconfiamos de Dios, sino de lo que el puede hacer por nosotros, limitado por nuestros actos. Aún así El Señor es bueno y nos ayuda. Lo bueno es que podemos rectificar y hacer las cosas diferentes, de manera que podamos estar más confiados la próxima vez que llegue la oscuridad!
Julie
Es tan cierto que vemos a Dios a través de nuestras propias acciones y experiencias. ¡Estoy tan agradecido de que Su gracia siempre esté disponible y Su amor es seguro!
Debra Celovsky
I appreciate your examination of the “apparent contradictions” re: our God of light in the darkness. Confidence-in-God-building words!
Julie
Debra, thank you so much for your comment. I am glad you found the analysis to be confidence-building.
Cynthia Mora
Claro q puedo caminar confiadamente, en varias ocasiones lo hecho , aunque es difícil entendí q Dios siempre a querido y m a dado lo mejor .
Julie
Gracias Cynthia por su comentario. En futuras publicaciones de blog, me esforzaré por abordar cómo podemos tener confianza en el amor de Dios y que Él trabaja para nuestro bien. Bendiciones hermana.
Debbie Arrowood
Very good thoughts, Julie!!! I have wondered about a lot of these issues myself. I think the older we get, we can really begin to see a clear picture of the dark times and how we can be blessed even in the darkness. A progression of events, somehow connected, like light and dark pieces of a puzzle, to create a masterpiece!
Thank you for sharing your faith and insights!!!
Julie
Debbie, thank you for your comment. I agree that as we age we have many more experiences to look back on and see how God was there all along. And by sharing these experiences, or sharing biblical stories like King David’s when He did not see God in the dark times until after the deliverance, that we can encourage others with fewer years behind them to wait faithfully to see God’s glory through it all!