Hold Out

He that walks in darkness and has no light, let him trust in the name of Jehovah and rely upon his God" Isa. 50:10

         "What shall the believer do in times of darkness -- the darkness of perplexity and confusion, not of heart but of mind? Times of darkness come to the faithful and believing disciple who is walking obediently in the will of God; seasons when he does not know what to do, nor which way to turn. The sky is overcast with clouds. The clear light of Heaven does not shine upon his pathway. One feels as if he were groping his way in darkness.

Beloved, is this you? What shall the believer do in times of darkness? Listen! "Let him trust in the name of the Lord, and rely upon his God." The first thing to do is do nothing. This is hard for poor human nature to do. In the West there is a saying that runs thus, "When you're rattled, don't rush"; in other words, "When you don't know what to do, don't do it." When you run into a spiritual fog bank, don't tear ahead; slow down the machinery of your life. If necessary, anchor your bark or let it swing at its moorings.

We are to simply trust God. While we trust, God can work. Worry prevents Him from doing anything for us. If our minds are distracted and our hearts distressed; if the darkness that overshadows us strikes terror to us; if we run hither and yon in a vain effort to find some way of escape out of a dark place of trial, where Divine providence has put us, the Lord can do nothing for us.

The peace of God must quiet our minds and rest our hearts. We must put our hand in the hand of God like a little child, and let Him lead us out into the bright sunshine of His love. He knows the way out of the woods. Let us climb up into His arms, and trust Him to take us out by the shortest and surest road."     --Dr. Pardington

              Reading this yesterday I found myself in tears. It doesn`t make sense to our human minds that when we are actively seeking and following the Lord he would "bless" us with clouds of darkness. It seems like a total contradiction to all the things he promises us again and again in scripture. And yet we see David, Jonah, Moses, Jesus himself crying out that this might be taken away from us. I found myself in tears because I identified with these questions and groanings of not knowing why though I feel God`s presence I don`t feel his guidance or direction right now. We are to simply trust. While we trust, God can work. I don`t need to work, I don`t need to do. I don`t need to keep going and going just to tell myself I am accomplishing something at least. I need to wait, I need to trust. Let him quiet my mind and rest my heart. Like a child find myself wrapped up in him and his loving thoughts over me and rest in the presence of his love. What this means practically is giving more God more time in my day, instead of less because I don`t see his guidance. Instead give him more chance to speak, chance to love, time for me to listen and to learn. I`m writing this partly as a record of my own heart and mind and to look back and see where God has shown up and met me in the darkness time and time again... like sending me this devotional to read. And yet I know there are others out there with this foggy cloud over their minds just wishing they could believe. Wishing they could trust, lay it all down at the cross, but we are all holding onto something. Lord help me let go of my somethings and trust you.

     I`m thankful that it is fall and this fall beauty and the proof of changing seasons bringing good reminds me that God is in control and all I need to do is trust.