Shabbat thoughts recorded two weeks ago –
“As I was praying for direction and His leading, the facing of the Red Sea by the children of Israel came to me. A wall insurmountable in front, sure death behind and the unknown of an endless wilderness on either side – yet going forward was His plan – going through what seemed to be an impassable obstacle.
What we see in the natural, and what we feel in the natural causes us to remain in places of doubt and darkness, shutting off the power of His deliverance, failing to allow Him to receive the esteem worthy of His Name Sake. The place of His rest does not always line up with our definition of what is peaceful and serene. To see beyond the natural, to understand beyond what resides in front of our face, is seeing through the eyes of Him Who is from eternity. This comes from knowing, from the inside out, His presence that forever remains unmovable.
His presence isn’t about one feel good moment, or a teary eyed moment in time, but a solid rock that never moves, always there when we move in and out of places of insecurities and imbalanced platforms. If He never calmed the sea to walk upon it, we would have no hope. If He never felt at our level, our lower side of human frailty, then how can He know just How to lift us out of the miry clay?
His presence moves through adversity, not around it. If were looking for the easy road – no worries – it’s easy to be found.
We must live a life of un-walled barriers, not in fear, driven to pad ourselves with walls of self-security, or out of fear that He will not see us through, but living a life knowing that He is able to deliver us solely upon the sheer power of His Name!
In our times of struggling to hold onto Him, Whom we have not seen, He does not struggle to hold onto us – for we, Whom He has seen, from the foundation of the world, is our surety that He will never let go, our foundation to trust in Him in complete darkness. What an insurmountable task it may seem, however the One who sees through the night is able to hold our hand until we see the dawning of His deliverance.
Darkness shouldn’t magnify our insecurities, but reveal the security of His faithfulness which is the candle we depend upon to see in our times of blackness – for who is terrified in the dark when we have Someone Who knows the way out?
The way is not dependent upon our ability to see, but our ability to follow – our willingness to follow Him who sees the light at the end of the tunnel.
The valley of the shadow of death is merely another place we must tread through, yet without fear for He leads us by His rod and staff. When He leads us, we fear not the darkness nor make a separation between the hard times or the good, because in the presence of the Shepherd we are always cared for whether by the streams of living water, eating in the green pastures or sitting in the middle of a valley called death.
The question is not whether there is enough light to see, but whether or not we are willing to follow into darkness the One who knows the way to light and peace. For it is the dark times that become the wick whereby His fire can burn – lighting the way for others to see Him who holds the light in the palm of His hand – the One enwrapped in it, Who alone has never forsaken those, who at times, got lost along the way but who found out that letting go of His hand left them in an endless roundabout of going nowhere.
If only our times of failure can be used to bring light to others in their day of darkness, we would gladly walk through our own day of blackness – for His esteem only!
Yes, as this Shabbat, as the clouds give way to reveal the Son who has always been there shining down – I remember it is not what I see or not see that brings eternal joy and lasting fulfillment but realizing I don’t have to go through the night alone, for there is One Who has paved the way already – the way back Home to His ever existing presence, comfort, peace and security.
Why I would ever consider walking the way alone is beyond me – the path has been set – it’s time to walk it, go through it, going beyond any place my own strength, feet or hand could ever take me – for His esteem only do I exist, and that is enough light to light my darkest of nights…”
– To my Yahuweh, my Faithful Friend, my Light and my Joy
“And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.”
Yochanan (John) 1:5