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Barbara Brown Taylor, darkness, experience, fear, God, Jesus Christ, light, the dark night of the soul, the dark night of the spirit, the light of the world, thought life
“Moonlight reflecting across the ocean” (Wallpaper)
If we were to live in the darkness 24/7, our lives would look much differently. Not only that they were much shorter because of the lack of sunlight and the lack of its positive consequences on our body and soul. Also, our whole environment and surroundings were not that beautiful, I assume. Recently, I was reminded of what I just described when I compared two situations on different days with one another. The other day I was swimming in a lake when there was no sun but only dark gray clouds in the sky. The water did not look that inviting; it was rather obscure, shadowy, and opaque. As soon as “something” touched my legs in the deep water, it made me shudder. 😛
How differently it was yesterday when I was able to swim later in the evening as the sun stood rather low on the horizon and I could swim through water that was bathed and flooded with sunlight. It felt as if the water itself was all light, the waves were sparkling, with delight it seemed to me, as I tried to catch this liquid that was vibrant of life while doing the breaststroke. It was the same when I was lying on my back, doing the backstroke, while watching some thunderstorm clouds that were forming slowly, the airplanes high above the lake and the woods, cackling geese, and some martins that would be snatching at gnats, all before a still deep blue sky. Amazing, the difference… 🙂
The fear of the unknown, of the dark side inside us, the fear of what might be hidden in our subconscious mind; I guess we all know it. We know that we need more and more light in order to see what else is inside us that needs to be exposed, yet we fear it at the same time. Swimming “right into the sunlight”, I suddenly knew that being bathed in God’s light, every fear MUST eventually disappear. Jesus told us,
“I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” (Jn 8:12 ESV)
“I have come into the world as light, so that whoever believes in me may not remain in darkness.” (Jn 12:46 ESV)
Before we may ascend fully into the light, we need to pass several valleys of darkness. Whether such purifying and enlightening processes all happen here in this life on earth or after death only God knows since it is all part of His plan. I thought I could share with you at this point some quotes by Barbara Brown Taylor who is an Episcopal priest, professor, and author. I need to frankly admit that I wondered at first when I read that she was a woman priest and I said to God, “Oh my, shall I really go on reading?” – God asked me in return, “Do you have any prejudice? Am I not able to speak through everyone?” Well, well, that made me grin 😉 since I recalled how often I myself would write about the fact that God never shows partiality and shares His wisdom with everyone just as He wills. So, here you are, an excerpt of an interview which I linked at the end if you like to read more.
In Genesis, darkness existed before God even got to work as a primal substance. Everything was made by God from dark. In Exodus, God promises to come to Moses on Mount Sinai in a dense or dark cloud. Here, darkness is divine and where God dwells. Abraham meets God in the darkness; Jacob wrestles an angel in the middle of the night, and angels announcing Christ’s birth to the shepherds at night. There’s so much that happens in the dark that is essential to the Christian story. –
[…]
Darkness is everything I do not know, cannot control, and am often afraid of. But that’s just the beginner’s definition. If I am a believer in God, then darkness is also where God dwells. God may also be frightening and uncontrollable and largely unknown to me, yet I decide to trust God anyway. –
[…]
There is a lot of what happens these days that I would call “spiritual bypassing,” where one offers a religious formula to will help you stay on top. But I cannot sell out the Christian message, which at its heart says that when the bottom drops out and you’re screaming your guts out at God, there’s more. It says that if you are willing to enter the cloud of unknowing and meet God in the dark—maybe even the dark of a tomb—you might be in for a surprise.
The great hope in the Christian message is not that you will be rescued from the dark but if you are able to trust God all the way into the dark, you may be surprised.
Entering the Promised Land 
Susanne, what a find! YES! Barbara Brown Taylor is onto a great truth here. Thanks for sharing this from your own experience as well. It seems that we have been through many of these trials together, dear sister, without knowing it!
Here are some verses that speak of God being in our times of “darkness” as well as light. I found them after a long time of being plunged into our Father’s darkness. IN Him there is no darkness, BUT He often wraps Himself in it as He does a deep work in us.
Who among you fears the LORD? Who obeys the voice of His Servant? Who walks in darkness And has no light? Let him trust in the name of the LORD And rely upon his God.(Isaiah 50:10 NKJV).
Do not rejoice over me, my enemy; When I fall, I will arise; When I sit in darkness, The LORD will be a light to me. I will bear the indignation of the LORD, Because I have sinned against Him, Until He pleads my case And executes justice for me. He will bring me forth to the light; I will see His righteousness. (Micah 7:8-9, NKJV).
Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; For You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me. (Psalms 23:4, NKJV).
He uncovers deep things out of darkness, and brings out to light the shadow of death. (Job 12:22 KJ2000)
He reveals the deep and secret things: he knows what is in the darkness, and the light dwells with him. (Dan 2:22 KJ2000)
Unto the upright there arises light in the darkness; He is gracious, and full of compassion, and righteous. (Psalms 112:4, NKJV).
If I say, Surely the darkness shall cover me; even the night shall be light about me. Yea, the darkness hides not from you; but the night shines as the day: the darkness and the light are both alike to you. (Psa 139:11-12 KJ2000)
Then they cried unto the LORD in their trouble, and he saved them out of their distresses. He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death, and broke their bands asunder. Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men! (Psa 107:13-15 KJ2000)
The people who walked in darkness Have seen a great light; Those who dwelt in the land of the shadow of death, Upon them a light has shined. (Isaiah 9:2, NKJV).
The righteous cry, and the LORD hears, and delivers them out of all their troubles. The LORD is near unto them that are of a broken heart; and saves such as be of a contrite spirit. Many are the afflictions of the righteous: but the LORD delivers him out of them all.
(Psa 34:17-19 KJ2000)
And finally Jesus said to his disciples, “Most assuredly, I say to you that you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice; and you will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will be turned into joy.” (John 16:20, NKJV).
What a wonderful discovery to find that God was with us the whole time while we felt totally surrounded by crushing darkness. There is no place darker, yet nearer to Him than in the shadow of His wings. Love to you all! ❤
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Michael, I am glad you liked Barbara Brown Taylor’s quotes. Sure, we were through many trials together. Can you still count them? I can’t… 😉
The Scriptures you shared on here fit perfectly since they display that God can even give us His light IN the darkness so that our darkness suddenly turns into light. Maybe, there is some mystery behind…? Saying yes to the dark side finally means discovering the real light? Could this be true? Maybe, the more we refuse to be confronted with our inner darkness, the less might God be able to show us who He really is. Just some thoughts…
Love ❤
Susanne
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Yes, Susanne, I will read Barbara’s whole article later. A mystery about God and His ways, for sure! While a nominal church goer we were always taught the verse about all those sinners “out there”… “Men prefer darkness rather than light because their deeds are evil.” Well, that might be the case, but I can tell you that God can plunge us into thick darkness, spiritually speaking, and there is nothing you can do about it but wait and die to a lot of old religious ideas about how God works!
It is in His darkness that we begin to see our own darkness! And it is this experience that is the beginning of our walking in HIS light and no longer in our own. When I quit kicking against that darkness was when HIS light began to dawn in me. As long as I fought it, my darkness remained. You said it well, dear sister, “…the more we refuse to be confronted with our inner darkness, the less might God be able to show us who He really is.” There is a verse that follows Isaiah 50:10 that I quoted and it is a warning about us walking in our own light instead of His…
“Behold, all you who kindle a fire, who set brands alight! Walk by the light of your fire, and by the brands which you have kindled! This shall you have from my hand: you shall lie down in torment.” (Isaiah 50:11 RSVA)
Jesus put it this way, “If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!”
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Oh yes, Michael, I remember the sinner is “out there”, in “this world”, and he “is not saved”. All nonsense, right? The older I get, the more I see my need to get saved by Him just like everyone else in this whole world.
Yes, blinded by His overwhelming light, our darkness might get thicker and thicker, so deep that we might be tempted to think that we are still at the beginning of our walk with Him and that nothing will ever change in us because it feels as if we have been getting worse and worse over time. Well, that is certainly not true, but the brighter His light, the more darkness in us we may see – and that is not fun, although it is absolutely necessary to get fully enlightened.
Hey! That sentence hit me for some reason, my brother. You said,
“And it is this experience that is the beginning of our walking in HIS light and no longer in our own.”
YES! What a great thought! I love the way Jesus put it in the verse you quoted, so simple and yet so deep. He darkens our own light of self – which we call the dark night of our soul – and when we are through it all, we might see how necessary this darkening of our old man was, then, when we find ourselves transformed by Him and finally even being “the light of the world”, too, just as Jesus told us. Unimaginable for me right now, I admit. 😛
Honestly, I am still pondering on this verse from Isaiah which has been thought-provoking for me. 🙄
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A lovely post. I thought I’d share this info. Current scientific thinking is that dark energy (a force which counteracts gravity) makes up about 68% of the universe. Dark matter makes up another 27%. Everything familiar to us actually makes up no more than 5%. Something to ponder. :0)
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Oh boy, uh girl! 😀
Indeed, something to ponder, for sure! Pheeew… Thanks so much for sharing, dear Anna! ❤
Your comments are always very welcome! ⭐
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Yes, Susanne, seeing that all the darkness in this world is NOT out there in those “sinners,” but much of it is in we who claim Christ is a great start to casting off our own “light” and seeking God’s light to shine in us. Frankly, I thank God for the dark night my soul has had to go through that I might know HIS light instead of mine.
God bless you and thanks for all your encouragement. 🐻
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Since it appears to me that the dark night is the only way to not only come to see some light, but to really see God as He is when our hearts are as pure as His (or in other words, when we are as perfect as our Father in Heaven is perfect), I decided to be grateful too. However, I cannot say that I have ever loved the process of being pruned. 😛
You’re so welcome as to any encouragement I can offer. You have always been a great encourager for me too, Michael! 🐱
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Well Sue I read your post and I then read the comments and then I waited to see what Father would move me to do in response–Meanwhile my human mind was pondering and I thought about striking up some humor–but no Father brought something else upon me–All this talk about light and darkness and then Father reminded me of a particular translation I have in my keep–it translates the word glory into a phrase of shining greatness—This text says it all—God is able to do much more than we ask or think by His power working inside of us–May we see His shining greatness glowing out of us so that all the world for all time give honor to our lord and deliverer JESUS CHRIST—let it be so!—-thanks for the spark of divine movement.
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You’re welcome as to the spark of divine movement, dear Ken. 🙂
I believe it was very wise to wait on God to nudge you what to write. It is not always that easy when (esp. funny) thoughts pop up in our minds, is it…? 😛
Actually, I always had problems with imagining what the word “glory” might mean – not only in English. But “shining greatness” is a translation that really hits home. Thank you so much for sharing it with us. Very helpful! ⭐
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Thank you for the post. Much to ponder.
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You’re very welcome, dear Pat. ❤
Indeed, much to ponder for me too. 😉
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Susanne, As I read the following passage, I thought of you and where God has had you…
“The land of Zeb’ulun and the land of Naph’tali, toward the sea, across the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles– the people who sat in darkness have seen a great light, and for those who sat in the region and shadow of death light has dawned.”
(Matthew 4:15-16 RSVA)
I was reading on the T. Austin Sparks site and found this quote written by Harry Foster,
“The darkest experiences of the Israelites were in the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, where the region was devastated and the people brought into contempt and taken away into captivity by the Assyrians. Isaiah, however, was able to look beyond the darkness and shadow of death into the dawning of a new day and announce a future time when God would honour Galilee of the nations by making it a springboard for the ministry of the One who would come with the glorious light of the coming kingdom.”
It is interesting to me, dear sister that when God tells time He always starts with darkness. Darkness was upon the face of the deep when He said, “Let there be light.” And in accounting the seven days of creation we read, “And the evening and the morning were the first (second, third, fourth, etc) day.” Just as the darkness that was over Naphtali and Zebulan was necessary before Jesus could make His light dawn there, so it is with us. Darkness that can be touched… when we can finally SEE our own darkness and cry out to Him, it is THEN that He can move on our behalf. Our time in darkness is a “springboard for the ministry of the One” to come.
Bless you my dear sister! He loves you so much!
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Thanks for your very helpful comment and quotes, both of Scriptures and of the one by Harry Foster.
Still waiting for the day when He will finally say, “Let there be light…” 😉
Bless you, too, Michael. BTW, He loves you as well, VERY MUCH! ❤
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They can also be seen from the bottom of a deep well. ⭐
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When the morning star is risen in our hearts, our light will shine in the darkness…and then people will ask for the hope that is in us…because they can see and feel it in their own hearts when they are loved unconditionally by us, just as God loves.
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Yes, Susanne, exactly! This is what my latest poem is about. I hope you don’t mind me sharing the URL on here…
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How could I mind that, Michael, not at all. It is interesting that I had written my response on here before I read your poem. Somehow funny, isn’t it? But meanwhile we should have got used to God’s guidance…
While reading your poem I was reminded of my comment, from hence, you might see some similarities between my replies here and over there on your ” From My ❤ ” blog.
🙂
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Yes, it is amazing how those who walk by the Spirit and listen to their Shepherd’s voice end up tracking on the same thoughts at the same time. We even used the same verse referring to Jesus as the Morning Star rising in our hearts. Yes, dear sister, the more we die to self and are raised in HIS newness of life, the more we will see this oneness become a reality as we abide in one mind, one heart and one accord as did the early church. What a wonderful reality is ours as His saints when we abide in Christ’s love together! ❤
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Yes and amen, dear Michael. Very well said! ⭐
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