“PASSENGERS IN THE DARKNESS”

“I will go before you and straighten the twisted places; I will break open doors of bronze and shatter iron bars; and I will give you the treasures of darkness and the hidden secrets, so that you may know that I am Yahweh, the God of Israel, who calls you by name.” Isaiah 45:2-3

Many times, when the word “darkness” invades our minds, it comes like a power outage, a great distress, discouragement, and a profound absence of Shalom (Peace)

“Why are you cast down, O my soul,

And why are you in turmoil within me?

Hope in Yahweh; for I shall again praise him,

My salvation and my God.”

Psalm 42:5

What if, for a moment, we could think that it is in the darkness where Creation dresses in glory and majesty, where the power of “Resurrection” comes to light?

Where Jonah learns his great lesson of obedience.

“But God had prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah, and Jonah was in the belly of the fish for three days and three nights.”

Where King David writes his renowned psalm, Psalm 23…

“Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,

I will fear no evil, for you are with me;

Your rod and your staff, they comfort me.”

Where Samson killed more men in his death than he had killed in all his life; it was there, in the midst of that darkness, where the Creator granted his request to regain his sudden and inadmissible strength one last time, to kill more than three thousand Philistines. (Judges 16:26-31)

Where Job could say:

“Hear, and I will speak;

I will question you, and you make it known to me.

I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear,

but now my eye sees you;

therefore, I despise myself,

and repent in dust and ashes.”

Job 42:4-6

We could go from Genesis to Revelation and mention hundreds who have been passengers in the darkness, those who have understood that darkness precedes Light. It is often in the darkness when our hearts are tested, our minds are opened, and many times, we regain our sense of reason…

And coming to himself, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have more than enough bread, but I perish here with hunger!

Luke 15:7

In one way or another, from moment to moment, from time to time, we become passengers in the Darkness; that when it is our turn to live and transcend in that path of darkness, let us be invaders, not victimizers of darkness.

May we have the full confidence that it is the Great I Am who goes before us, straightening the twisted places, breaking open doors of bronze, shattering iron bars…

So that only then we can discover the treasures in the darkness, the secrets carefully guarded by the Eternal God, and in this way, we can know the One and Sovereign God of Israel, embracing our identity with the Creator and eagerly awaiting the precious coming of the one who pierced through the darkness, our good Shepherd Yeshua HaMashiaj (our Lord Jesus Christ).

Let us conquer, then, and push back the darkness in our lives and in the lives of others. Let us be passengers with purpose and courage. Only Light can pierce through darkness; let us be Light to the Nations.

Alfredo Linares