There is something wrong with the normal website I use to get My Utmost for His Highest this morning. Instead I used a book given to me by a co-worker. The grandfather of his girlfriend writes these things every day or so for the newspaper where he lives. They are short devotionals and today's was titled "The Treasures of Darkness" and sited Exodus 20:21. He starts by saying that Isaiah writes of the "treasures of darkness", but doesn't say where (Isaiah 45:3). It turns out the context is God using Cyrus to free the Israelites from captivity in Babylon, and it is to Cyrus God promises to give the "treasures of darkness".
Then the author, Clyde Nichols, then proceeds to make a good case for good things to be found in darkness. On Mount Sinai, Yahweh Himself was found in the thick dark cloud. The psalmist writes of God wrapping Himself in a thick dark cloud as a garment. As was mentioned, there are secret treasures found in darkness. I can find my Master in darkness, sometimes easier than in the light of day. Today seems dark to me. I went to a barbeque joint after church yesterday and ate too much. I still feel it. I'm still stuffed. I feel horrible. And I will be working out this morning, hoping it kills me, or at least purges the demons of gluttony from me.
But there will be other dark days ahead. Life brings them like seasons bring storms. It happens, somewhat in cycles, somewhat in cycles within cycles. Sometimes I bring darkness on myself with dumb choices. Sometimes my Master brings the darkness. But I can enter the darkness in confidence. "Though I walk through the Valley of the Shadow of Death, I will fear no evil." If my Master is also my Shepherd, and I go through the dark deathly valley, then He has led me there. The rod and staff of my Shepherd will protect me as I follow Him. But even when I stray there on my own, He comes and finds me.
The darkness is nothing to fear, and yet that is my usual response. The darkness is nothing to worry about beforehand, and yet I sometimes discover I have been fretting over it, distracted from what I was supposed to be doing. Worry of unrealized fears is sometimes the most effective song used by my Accuser to distract me from serving my Master. This is more of an issue as the day of packing and moving rapidly approaches. As I finish out my "Week of Lasts" (it just sounds more dramatic that way), I will be often tempted to listen to the song of fearing a possible future; the dreaded game of "What if…" Playing that game is such a waste of time. The provision of my Master is so clear that to fear it will come to an end is a lack of faith (oh, and foolish too).
I rise and start my day in darkness. In darkness I write these entries. It is dark outside as I close my eyes on another day. There is nothing to fear in darkness when I remember that even in darkness the eyes of my Master see me (Psalm 139) and I cannot hide nor be hidden from Him. If my Master will deliver His own Son on my behalf, then why would He then deny something that would save me? In Romans 8 I am told that nothing can separate me from the love of God in Christ Jesus; not even darkness.
I like the way the King James Version puts the statement, "Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil," as if to say, "Yea! The Valley of death! I love this place!" If I truly believe that my Master leads me, then I do love this place, because His glory and majesty shine all the brighter when the day is darker. He becomes easier to see and follow. I see Him in better detail and I know that the Fearsome One before me is truly for me. That is surely the best place to be.
So, as moving day approaches and I enter this week of lasts, may I see my Master more clearly as the darkness seems to envelope me. While others stand at a distance, I will enter the thick dark cloud where the God is.
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