“You make the going out of the morning and the evening to shout for joy.”
“If I take the wings of the morning
and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,
even there your hand shall lead me,
and your right hand shall hold me.
If I say, ‘Surely the darkness shall cover me,
and the light about me be night,’
even the darkness is not dark to you;
the night is bright as the day,
for darkness is as light with you.” Psalm 65:8b; 139:9-12
“Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb through the middle of the street of the city; also, on either side of the river, the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. No longer will there be anything accursed, but the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him. They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. And night will be no more. They will need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever.” Revelation 22:5
Darkness diffuses almost imperceptibly as the golden orb approaches. Shadowed trees give way to shaded outlines in the predawn mist. What was all dark is now revealed as layers with dimension. Then the rays… piercing through like arrows of glory, defining edges, revealing the Maker’s creative handiwork. Day after day He speaks through His turning of hours, Hope in Me, trust My glory. (Psalm 19:1-3)
Always the rays come, sure as the seasons and every promise of God. Morning by morning they pierce the shadows of layered darkness, confusion, and uncertainty. At the right time, at the end of waiting, they outline what is certain and true, what stands rooted and strong. (Genesis 1:16-19; Isaiah 31:33-36; 33:25-26)
In long darkness of soul, seemingly endless unanswered questions, unfulfilled yearnings, pain so deep breath can’t be caught, the rays come. No shadow is too thick, no distance too great, no grief too vast that His light cannot pierce and penetrate. In God’s eternal economy it is endless day, even when life is turned upside down and we cannot see light.
Where have we misplaced hope? In what fleeting individuals, plans, dreams, pedigrees do we trust? Will we resist and wrestle with the darkness, or trust God to work His glory in and through it as we look for His appearing? (Romans 8:18; 2 Corinthians 12:9)
“Great is thy faithfulness, O God my Father,
there is no shadow of turning with thee.
Thou changest not, thy compassions, they fail not;
as thou hast been, thou forever wilt be.
Summer and winter and springtime and harvest,
sun, moon, and stars in their courses above
join with all nature in manifold witness
to thy great faithfulness, mercy, and love.
Great is thy faithfulness!
Great is thy faithfulness!
Morning by morning new mercies I see;
all I have needed thy hand hath provided.
Great is thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me!” ~Thomas O. Chisolm (1923)
Lord, in every darkness, help me hope in You and trust the rays of Your glory.
As the rain and snow 