Treasures in the Dark Places

I went to get my wedding ring cleaned at the jewelers the other day.  As I was waiting, the lady pulled out a ginormous ring for me to try on.  My kids were with me and she asked them how much they thought it was worth. 
My kids, "A hundred?"
The lady, "Try 100,000."
Yikes!

As I'm sure most of you know, most natural diamonds are formed at high-pressure high-temperature conditions existing at depths of 140 to 190 kilometers (87 to 120 mi) in the earth mantle (Wikipedia: diamonds).

One of my favorite Bible verses is from Isaiah 45:3

I will give you the treasures of darkness

And hidden riches of secret places,

That you may know that I, the LORD,

Who call you by your name,

Am the God of Israel.

This verse has been a verse for me to pray and hold on to whenever I am going through a dark place.  There are many different responses that we can take when we are faced with the darkness in our life (whether it comes from within us, or outside of us).  Some responses include running away, avoiding it, denial and despair.  I've tried all those at times.  My most favorite response now is to look to Him.

Here is what the Bible says about darkness:

Psalm 139:12

 But even the darkness is not dark to you.

The night is as light as the day;

darkness and light are the same to you.

Our darkness and the darkness we see around us is NOT more powerful nor is it intimidating to our God.  Dark and light are the same to Him; He has got it all under control.  It's not like God says, "Oh my, look at that dark spot. I didn't see that one coming; I don't know what to do about that."  He knows exactly what to do so we need to take time to listen to Him and trust Him.

So instead of running away from the darkness, I am learning to sit in my darkness and to wait on Him.  In the process, I often cling to Isaiah 45:3 knowing that I can emerge with treasures from those dark places.  When I have done this, I have always left those dark times with a deeper understanding of Him, His character and love; true treasures that reside deep within my heart and can never be stolen.

Let God meet you in those dark places and TRUST in Him through it all.  He is the only one that can lead you through and the treasures you'll receive make it worth enduring the darkness.

In Christ,