It was now about the sixth hour, and darkness came over the whole land until the ninth hour, for the sun stopped shining. Luke 23:44
Yesterday I wrote about the three hours of darkness and the people who are still in the darkness. This is all true. But as I was thinking about those three hours, it occurred to me that those near the cross experienced the darkness equal to those who were merely in the same town or for that matter across the desert. Those who believed and those who did not believe were all in darkness.
Sometimes we must all go through the dark times despite the spiritual self-help books that tell us that since we’re Believers and have faith in a living, loving God, we shouldn’t experience this darkness.
And yet we do.
We all do. I’d be dishonest if I wrote otherwise.
We never know when the darkness will end. Sometimes we feel as if it will never end.
Your child runs away. You lose a close relative. You are diagnosed with a terminal illness.
The advice you hear from well-meaning people is cold and heartless. You’re bitter. And angry. You literally do not know when the darkness will end.
But it will. When you’re not in the darkness, it’s easy to see that darkness always ends. But when we’re not thinking straight and our emotions are running high, that’s when we lose sight of the facts we know to be true. Yes, the light will shine once again. Yes, even in your darkest moments, you know the cross is still there because you also know the Man who hung on it. You can’t see Him, smell Him, or touch Him but you know He’s there.
Yes, you know He’s there.