MikePeercy.com

I’m not a fan of darkness.

I don’t really mean the darkness in the sense of the forces of evil—though I’m certainly not a fan of that either—but rather the absence of light. I like darkness if I’m sleeping but I don’t even particularly like to walk around in familiar places without some light. That may have something to do with having raised many sons and understanding full well the treacherous reality of stray lego blocks.

But there are seasons of life that are well described as dark days. You know the kind of times I’m referring to, don’t you? It’s those stretches that seem to have dark clouds of fear or disappointment or struggle or heartache hanging over them.

I could talk at length about a very, very deep season of darkness I experienced a number of years ago, but suffice it to say that it was a time when I questioned everything I had ever known to be true.

Have you been there?

I suspect you have even if you haven’t recognized it.

I know that some followers of Jesus are pretty insistent that people who are walking in genuine faith will never experience such dark times. I think I understand where that comes from, but, when I read the Scriptures, pretty much every believer that I read about went through some dark, heavy seasons. Even Jesus spent time weeping with grieving friends and He endured the darkest moment of human history when He could have walked away from it.

But here’s what I know about darkness: things don’t look the same. They just don’t. Darkness can be very, very disorienting. When the power goes out on a very, very dark night and you are trying to walk through such a familiar place as your own home, doorways and stairs and bedposts and such—things that we know are there—may not feel like they’re where they are supposed to be.

But, when the power suddenly comes back on and all those lights (that we switched on while we were trying to figure out what was going on) suddenly shine bright again, we find that things are still where we knew them to be.

I think, if I had to choose a favorite band right now, I would point to Rend Collective. I love their stuff—all of it!

This song that we’re listening to today is built on a simple premise that I want us to chew on for a few minutes. 

What is true in the light is true in the darkness.

Think about these words that make up the chorus of this great song:

What’s true in the light is true in the darkness
Though sorrow is real, You won’t let it break us
So we sing in the night and trust in Your promises
You’re true in the light and true in the darkness

They’re reminding themselves that what they know to be true about God’s character is still true when hard and painful things are happening all around us. What a powerful thought, isn’t it?

I know God is able to do anything He chooses.

When He is not doing something I want Him to do, it is STILL TRUE that He is able to do it.

I know God is faithful in all things.

When I can’t see what He is doing in a situation, it is STILL TRUE that He is faithful.

I know God is good.

When the situation I find myself going through seems to be anything but good, it is STILL TRUE that God is good and that He will bring good about for me through this situation… even if I can’t see it.

What I have learned in the bright light of His presence is STILL TRUE when I can’t see Him or hear Him or feel that He is near.

What’s true in the light is true in the darkness!

It may seem a little simplistic, but I believe that we all need to stop and remember that the God we learned to trust in the bright light of day is still worthy to be trusted in the deepest darkest valley.

But why is it so important to remember this? I think it is because our emotions are often so very loud and God’s voice of truth is often so soft and steady.

There is a line in the song that has echoed in my mind again and again and again since I first heard the song:

“My emotions are useful but they’re not gospel.”

I want you to know, my friend, that, no matter how loud and strong your feelings may be in a particular moment, what is true is still true. If you will bring your emotions in honesty to God when they are so loud and wild, He will hear you. He will listen. And then, in His still, small voice, He will remind You what You know.

What’s true in the light is true in the darkness.

And what, you may ask, is true? I think Jesus answered that the best:

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”

John 3.16

He loves you so much that He sent His only Son to die so that you and I could have a life that lasts forever. That is what is true… no matter how it feels.

Father, it doesn’t feel like it right now, but help me hold on to what I know is true—that You are able and You are faithful and You are good.

Now… give a good listen to this song and celebrate with this great reminder!

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If you enjoy these musical devotional posts, let me know in the comments and feel free to suggest a song that speaks to you in a significant way.