Don’t forget in the Dark what you have seen in the Light

It had been less than 24 hours since they had watched their friend, mentor and lord die in agony and the disciples couldn’t believe that Jesus had failed!

The agonizing and humiliating death of Jesus filled and consumed their thoughts leaving them feeling numb, desolate, disappointed, confused and alone!

They had thought Jesus was the Messiah but now he was dead and buried they assumed that he couldn’t have been! Their hopes were dashed and their lives were in pieces.

Jesus had told his disciples that he would rise from the dead but in the midst of the roller coaster of circumstances and emotions that they were on, this had got lost and was not in their thinking.

Whilst it looked to the disciples like Jesus had failed, they were soon be reminded that he had in fact won his greatest victory as he defeated death and sin through his sacrifice on the cross and his resurrection from the dead.

Sometimes it feels like we are living in an Easter Saturday world!

We believe that God is good, loving and all powerful but when we watch the news, it can be so full of evil and despair that it can leave us wondering where God is and why he isn’t fixing things in the way that we would try to?

Do you ever feel like God is failing?

Do you ever feel like God has lost control of the world?

As I have been reflecting on this I remembered a prophecy that was given to my father in law. God said to him:

‘Don’t forget in darkness what you have seen in the light’.

Have you ever been left in a pitch black room as the result of a power cut? As you consider where the nearest torch or box of matches is you also have to think about where the furniture and doors are around you.

Those things don’t cease to be there because you can’t see them!

When our lives and circumstances are full of light it’s easy to see who God is but in the darkness of an Easter Saturday experience, it is easy to forget God and what he has promised!

We need to continue to believe that God is still good and at work even when it doesn’t look that way from our limited perspective.

On Easter Saturday, Jesus was dead and buried. Everyone was certain it was all over but the next day Jesus rose from the dead and everything changed.

If you feel like you are living in dark times then rather than despairing, perhaps you need to pray to see more of God’s light. If as we pray, we don’t see more of his light then I hope we can still cling to the reality that the light of Jesus is still shining and that God is still good even if we can’t see it.

Jesus had promised to rise from the dead, but in the darkness of Easter Saturday the disciples had either forgotten or had lost faith in this promise.

May we look to the light and not be consumed by the darkness and may God increase our faith as we trust in him in this dark world.

If you would like to consider this some more you could try reading A light in the darkness or the light shines the brightest in the darkest of places.

If you are interested in finding out more about the events surrounding Jesus’ death and resurrection then you might like to look at the other posts I have written about this.