"Moses approached the thick darkness where God was" (Exodus 20:21); "I will give you the treasures of darkness, riches stored in secret places, so that you may know that I am the Lord..." (Isaiah 45:3).

Darkness isn't all disagreeable. We meet our Jesus in the dark of Gethsemane where He gives us the treasures of at-one-ment and commitment, victory and eternity. In the dark of our despair we can shape a prized black pearl from a black disappointment and make it a jewel of grace and integrity.

"He knows what lies in darkness" (Dan. 2:22b). He knows if it is evil that lurks or grief that consumes us in the dark night of our soul. His Light will consume both, too. There is no evil of which He is unaware; neither is there any sorrow that the Man of Sorrows does not feel with us as we toss through the long night.

"I will give you the treasures of darkness, riches stored in secret places" (Isaiah 45:3.) It has been suggested that the real meaning of this verse is when the veil was rent in the Temple at the moment of our Lord's death. For three hours before Jesus died, there lay a thick curtain of darkness over Mount Calvary but at the ninth hour the veil was rent in two, from top to bottom. Before that, the world was engulfed in misery and ignorance and confusion. But the moment that our Surety died, the clouds of sadness were dissipated for us all.

Thank You, Jesus!

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Patricia Erwin Nordman