Darkness.
I’ve
experienced it. You have too.
Maybe
you’re there right now, a time in life when everything safe, secure and
comfortable has been uprooted.
Turned upside down.
Night
may have descended in the middle of a bright sunny day with a phone call, a
diagnosis, a betrayal, a loss, a failure.
In
an instant, you are overshadowed by gloom and despair and not one glimmer of light
flickers to guide you to a solution.
You
feel trapped in a dark place with no way out. Abandoned. Alone. Afraid.
What
are we to do in the darkness, through the long night of struggle and heartache?
I’ve
noticed several amazing plants in my garden that illustrate the answer to this question
in different ways:
PRAY
The
Cassia tree, abundant in clusters of symmetrical leaves, is covered with bright
yellow flowers in Autumn. A small shrub-like tree, it grows twelve to fifteen
feet tall.
Sulpher
butterflies, the large yellow-winged variety, are attracted to the Cassia and
will rest on its branches even when it isn’t flowering.
An amazing characteristic of the Cassia is how it folds its leaves together at
dusk, as if putting little hands together for bedtime prayers.
The
Cassia “prays” all night and when the sun rises in the morning the leaves open
to another day of butterfly welcoming.
A
life without prayer is a life without light. What better time to pray than
when we can’t see where we’re going?
The
lyric to an old hymn put it this way:
Have we trials and temptations?
Is there trouble anywhere?
We should never be discouraged
Take it to the Lord in prayer.
Can we find a friend so faithful,
Who will all our sorrows share?
Jesus knows our every weakness;
Take it to the Lord in prayer.
Is there trouble anywhere?
We should never be discouraged
Take it to the Lord in prayer.
Can we find a friend so faithful,
Who will all our sorrows share?
Jesus knows our every weakness;
Take it to the Lord in prayer.
PRAISE
The
Four O’clock plant has small trumpet-like flowers that remain closed during the
day.
When
evening comes they open, displaying a mass of color across the top of their
waxy stems and releasing a mild, sweet fragrance into the night.
As
we sit on the patio in the evening the delightful scent is carried to us on the
breeze. This flower puts on its greatest display in the darkness.
The
Four O’clock is not concerned about the setting sun. It was made to rejoice in
the night.
Paul
and Silas, in the darkness of a dreary prison cell (Acts 16), praised God in
the middle of the night, the fragrance of their worship carried on the wind of
the Holy Spirit to God’s throne.
Their
praise brought the answer to their problem and set them free.
PATIENCE
The
Poinsettia plant is famous for its beautiful red Christmas blooms.
The
blooms are actually the plant’s green leaves which slowly transform into a
brilliant red color as the daylight hours shorten and nights grow longer.
Poinsettias
need the long dark nights of autumn and early winter, to convert leaves from
green to red. The process takes about six to eight weeks but the plant can only
produce the bright red color we all enjoy, in darkness.
The
night seasons of life are mostly unwelcome, but they create something beneficial
in us and for others, if we let them.
James
1:3-4, shows us that these troubles test our faith and produce patience.
Once patience has done its work, we will be complete and have everything we
need for a God-filled life.
Some
of the greatest transformative experiences occur in the night seasons of life.
My plants
never fuss in the darkness but yield to its process. When the sun rises in the
morning, they are glorious to behold.
Keep
praying and praising and be patient.
You’ll
be surprised by the beauty found on the other side of darkness, when the light
shines again.
Job 23: 8 Behold, I go forward, but he [God]
is not there, and
backward, but I do not perceive him; on the left hand when he
is working, I do not behold him; he turns to
the right hand, but I do not see him. But he knows the way that I take;
when he has tried me, I will come out as gold.
Psalm 18: 6 But in my
distress I cried out to the LORD; yes, I prayed to my God for help. He heard me
from his sanctuary; my cry reached his ears.
Psalm 120:1 In my
distress I cried to the Lord, and
He heard me.
Isaiah 50:10 Who
walks in darkness and has no light? Let him trust in the name of the Lord and rely upon his God.