Darkness Leads to Light

God lives and works today. He is an anger and a mighty rock, a refuge and a stronghold in times of trouble. The psalmist David writes that even the darkness is not dark to him.

Today's meditation by Baselius Schlink will share what a wonderful promise these words are. For with God, suffering is never the end. Darkness leads to light.

Do you feel that you're in a hopeless situation? That there seems to be no way out? God will guide you step by step so that you won't get lost in this darkness. He will help you. Therefore, go on bravely in the assurance that God is by your side and that this way of darkness and night will lead out into light.

On these ways which the Lord is now leading you, not darkness and sorrow are the end, but rather light and joy. Listen to the words of James 5 verse 11. Behold, we count them happy which endure.

You have heard of the patience of Job and have seen the end of the Lord, that the Lord is full of pity and tender mercy. Here, God reveals his fatherly heart to us. In this word, he is giving us a firm promise for our ways of suffering in darkness.

Yes, he has prepared a way out for you, just as he did with Job. At the end of Job's difficult way, he was presented with an overabundance of goodness from God. God cannot do otherwise than prepare such an end for us, for he is full of pity and tender mercy.

Isn't this comforting to realize that you have the joyful expectation awaiting you at the end of the darkness through which you're now going? Your job right now is to keep your mind full of thoughts about your merciful father. Say again and again, Abba, my father, rich in pity, full of tender mercies. All of your self-centered thinking about your problems and your difficulties is forbidden territory, for this is where the enemy is waiting for you.

Therefore, don't give him your hand by allowing room for the smallest despairing thought. Rather, put your hand into Jesus' hands by praising his love, which always helps. In Hebrews 10, verse 23, we read, Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who has promised is faithful.

Yes, hope is your anchor. Hope, not only for a way out of your trouble now, but hope in the goal of eternity, where our dark paths will end if we have trod them in faith, trusting in his love. Therefore, keep your eyes on this goal and endure.

It is his great love which is leading you this way to prepare you for eternity. Believe and trust. You are not alone.

Our Lord Jesus is with you, and he will help you. May he bless you in his great love, and may he give you ever anew the endurance and hope to continue on in faith, completely trusting in him and in his love. To thee, Father, I surrender as my helper and advisor, my whole self in all its need.

I will trust, though fears surround me and my cares pile up around me, with no loophole for escape. You have been listening to a program written by Basilea Schlink of the Little Land of Canaan. To learn more about how God lives and works today, visit us at our website, www.canaan.org. If you contact us, we would be happy to send you a free inspirational booklet.

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