SEEING IN THE DARK

SEEING IN THE DARK

CONNECT As Winston Churchill was working to form the United Nations after WWII, he famously said, “Never let a good crisis go to waste”.

Rahm Emanuel, the former mayor of Chicago, a former Democratic congressman from Illinois and chief of staff to President Barack Obama from 2009 to 2010, borrowed the quote when he said, “The United States was careening toward a global depression when President Barack Obama named me his first chief of staff, and in those dark days, I uttered a phrase that’s followed me ever since: ‘Never allow a good crisis to go to waste. It’s an opportunity to do the things you once thought were impossible.’”

DILEMMA Years ago a popular radio preacher, Paul Bilheimer, wrote a book called Don’t Waste Your Sorrows. I have seen a rise in the number of current business and church leaders discussing similar concerns. The crisis of the past several weeks has been a challenge to all of us. Many have been asking, “Why?” Today I want us to ask, “What? What is God teaching us through this pandemic?”

SOLUTION If we look for the big picture of what God has done in the past and what He can do in tough times to prepare our future, it can give context to the pain of the present. We learn how to “see in the dark.” PRAYER

INSTRUCTION: Crises reveal.

First, crises reveal bad choices and poor preparation of the past.

Matthew 7:26–27 (NKJV) But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand: and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell. And great was its fall.

John 3:18–21 (NKJV) He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God.

What do we do when we see these bad choices and decisions? Do what we can to make them right. It’s called repentance: confess and forsake.

Isaiah 55:7 (NKJV) Let the wicked forsake his way, And the unrighteous man his thoughts; Let him return to the LORD, And He will have mercy on him; And to our God, For He will abundantly pardon.

God will make a way through even the bad decisions of the past. He will abundantly pardon. I’m not just talking about sin. It can be bad choices in finances, friends, the future. He is the God of restoration!

Joel 2:25 (NKJV) So I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten, the crawling locust, the consuming locust, and the chewing locust, my great army which I sent among you.

These four types of locust would eat everything: stalk root, leaves and fruit. It may seem like the enemy has eaten everything you have, but a new crop is on the way.

2 Corinthians 9:8 (NKJV) And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work.

Second, crises reveal bad practices of the present.

1 John 1:5–7 (NKJV) This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.

When things are going good, we usually can hide whatever character flaws we have. In times of stress, those flaws or cracks come to the surface. God turns up the heat and the slag come floating to the top.

Malachi 3:1–3 (NKJV) “Behold, I send My messenger, And he will prepare the way before Me. And the Lord, whom you seek, Will suddenly come to His temple, Even the Messenger of the covenant, In whom you delight. Behold, He is coming,” Says the LORD of hosts. “But who can endure the day of His coming? And who can stand when He appears? For He is like a refiner’s fire And like launderers’ soap. He will sit as a refiner and a purifier of silver; He will purify the sons of Levi, And purge them as gold and silver, That they may offer to the LORD An offering in righteousness.”

So what do we do when the slag comes up? Admit it. Name it. Accuse it, don’t excuse it. Don’t say, “I don’t know why I did that!” Realize that this thing is in you and God, in His mercy, is showing it to you. As the passage said, He is purging these things from us so we can be gifts of righteousness to Him!

Job 42:6 (NKJV) Therefore I abhor myself and repent in dust and ashes.

Isaiah 6:5 (NKJV) So I said: “Woe is me, for I am undone! Because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, The LORD of hosts.”

Third, crises reveal our love for others.

1 John 2:9–11 (NKJV) He who says he is in the light, and hates his brother, is in darkness until now. He who loves his brother abides in the light, and there is no cause for stumbling in him. But he who hates his brother is in darkness and walks in darkness, and does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes.

During tough times we discover our focus: Is it on me and mine, or is it on you and yours? Of course, it can and should be both.

Galatians 5:14 (NKJV) For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”

As we care for ourselves and our families and friends, do we also see the hurting, the lonely, the hungry, the afraid…

James 2:8–9 (NKJV) If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” you do well; but if you show partiality, you commit sin, and are convicted by the law as transgressors.

Matthew 25:34–40 (NKJV) Then the King will say to those on His right hand, “Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.”

Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, “Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink? When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You? Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?” And the King will answer and say to them, “Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.”

Hebrews 13:15–16 (NKJV) Therefore by Him let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name. But do not forget to do good and to share, for with such sacrifices God is well pleased.

Fourth, crises reveal God’s power to change us.

INSPIRATION What do we do with the things we see; the things God shows us? Write this down: God always reveals to heal.

Hosea 6:1–3 (NKJV) Come and let us return to the LORD; for He has torn, but He will heal us; He has stricken, but He will bind us up. After two days He will revive us; on the third day He will raise us up, that we may live in His sight. Let us know, let us pursue the knowledge of the LORD. His going forth is established as the morning; He will come to us like the rain, like the latter and former rain to the earth.

Listen to these lyrics from a song recorded years ago by Debbie Kerner, I Finally Appreciate:

I finally appreciate the changes that You made. Now I finally understand the price that you paid. I fought against You for so long but now I see the price that You paid, You paid for me.

Lord, I know I’m stubborn and so hard to get through. A shell I find that has no cracks, but You seem to find a few. And though I was sad, hardened clay, You held me in Your hands and dashed the vessel to the floor and raised me up again.

Dear Father, up in heaven lease hurry with the day when the Lord, my God, my Jesus will wash my tears away. And I just want to thank you Lord, thank you Lord for loving me.

God has come to restore your past, rebuild your present, and refresh your future! Things do not have to stay the way they are now. He will make us new.

Colossians 1:13 (NKJV) He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love,

1 Thessalonians 5:5 (NKJV) You are all sons of light and sons of the day. We are not of the night nor of darkness.

ACTION STEPS

1. Confront

Psalms 51:3 (NKJV) For I acknowledge my transgressions, and my sin is always before me.

2. Confess

Psalms 32:5 (NKJV) I acknowledged my sin to You, and my iniquity I have not hidden. I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the LORD,” and You forgave the iniquity of my sin.

3. Change

2 Corinthians 3:18 (NKJV) But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being changes into the same image from one degree of glory to another, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.

4. Continue

2 Timothy 3:14 (NKJV) But you must continue in the things which you have learned and been assured of, knowing from whom you have learned them,

5. Create

Psalms 51:10 (NKJV) Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.

Crises reveal many things. We are all in different places. Some are broken, some are filled. Please remember that God is a work in you. Don’t lose sight of that. The same God who reveals to heal, encourages and creates.

Sometimes it has to be dark for us to see the full picture. For example, I love driving in the mountains at night. You can see all the stars! In the lights of the city, the fullness of the sky is hidden. In our lives, the love and grace of God can often only be seen times of darkness. Simple acts of kindness mean much more; the company of family and friends becomes more precious. What is really important in life stands in stark contrast to the trivial pursuits of wealth and fame.

Proverbs 15:17 (NLT) A bowl of vegetables with someone you love is better than steak with someone you hate.

MINISTRY TIME