Shining in the Night

"Faith is the strength by which a shattered world shall emerge into the light."
~ Helen Keller

 

 

Faith. The glimmering ray of hope that permeates the darkness of human fallibility. Since the beginning of time, confidence in something greater has illuminated the path of mankind across lofty peaks and through dusks of despair. But in the midst of overwhelming obscurity, the rays of faith are often depleted of their light. Endless nights of depravity, desperation, and despondence have the power to deprive even the most fervent individuals of their most blazing beliefs, and many succumb to the blackened depths. 

It is no mystery that we live in a world ridden with pain and suffering. Disaster strikes. Relationships crumble. Our precious plans fail. A lot of the times, my faith isn’t just challenged by my own distress. It is challenged by the affliction of those I love and care about, and those I wish I could save. I see tears falling from the eyes of my friends, and I wonder why God won’t wipe them away. I turn on the news and hear stories of violence and bloodshed, and I wonder how a loving God could allow such terrible things to take place. A gleaming beacon of faith no longer brightens the sky above me as I look for the answers within its vastness. Instead, the silent, infinite panel above mocks me in my doubt. From a place of pride and anger, I cry out to God much like David did: “Awake, Lord! Why do you sleep? Rouse yourself! Do not reject us forever. Why do you hide your face and forget our misery and oppression?” (Psalm 44:23-24). We wonder if God has abandoned us and all of His creation. We revel in the futile mutterings of another unanswered prayer. As we ask ourselves if the somber skies will remain silent forever, faith’s fire is often extinguished.

Whether we realize it or not, the effects are devastating.

When all hope and assurance are lost, wallowing in the darkness often leaves us swallowed. Faith propels us towards a brighter tomorrow. It allows us to go to bed each night knowing that even though the waters roar and the mountains quake with their surging, we have refuge and strength. When this hope taken from us, our steps lose their joy. An immense void opens up inside. It overwhelms us with a darkness more impenetrable than any other. As the flame of faith flickers, we often become stranded in the utter absence of light.

Am I saying that you should never doubt? That you should never question your faith? Absolutely not. I would even venture to say that periods of uncertainty can lead us into more unshakable certainty. Consider the story of Job. Job was an incredibly Godly man, but his faith was shaken tremendously when suffocating blackness impends upon him. He loses his wealth, his family, and his physical health. His response is relatively human: “What strength do I have, that I should still hope? What prospects, that I should be patient? Do I have the strength of stone? Is my flesh bronze? Do I have any power to help myself, now that success has been driven from me?” (Job 6:11-13). Job’s friends, despite their honorable intentions, end up doing more harm than good. They blame Job for things he has no control over. They tell him that he should have more faith. But at the end of this remarkable narrative, we discover that perhaps his faith was being strengthened to a degree far greater than that of his friends because God was living and active in the midst of his suffering. As Job 40:6 declares, “Then the Lord God spoke to Job out of the storm . . .” He is then brought to an intimate place of faith and repentance. “Then Job replied to the Lord: I know that you can do all things; no purpose of yours can be thwarted. You asked, ‘Who is this that obscures my plans without knowledge?’ I spoke of things I did not understand, things too wonderful for me to know” (Job 42:2-3). God used ineffable curses and turned them into abundant blessings of strong mettle and refreshed faith.

You do not always have to like your circumstances. You do not have to simply sit around and wait for the dawn. You can find beauty in the night.  Believe this, and let it penetrate the most opaque chambers of your life. As Paul so beautifully pens, “We also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces endurance, endurance character, and character, hope. And this hope will not put us to shame because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us” (Romans 5:3-5).

May you always fight the good fight. May you let the grace of God manifest itself into glorious fruits, even in the dry desert land. And may you always keep your downtrodden eyes fixed upon the glimmering ray of hope shining in the night before the light yields to the darkness on the horizon.