Friday, February 8, 2013

The Discipline of Darkness, Part 2


Here's part 2 of that wonderful sermon I heard that Adrian Rogers spoke.  These are the words that spoke to me.....

Sometimes in life we come to a time of darkness when the lights go out and nothing seems to make sense. Job was so perplexed, he demanded, “God, you owe me some answers!” Although God never specifically answered Job’s questions, Job came to learn something critically important: that God alone was enough — even without the answers.

Sometimes God may put us into darkness so we’ll learn that even without the answers, He is enough. We may not be able to say that and mean it until He is all that we have.

#3: Some Things Are Seen in the Dark That Cannot Be Seen in the Light
“And I will give thee the treasures of darkness, and hidden riches of secret places, that thou mayest know that I, the LORD, which call thee by thy name, am the God of Israel.” Isaiah 45:3

Sometimes the greatest treasures are discovered in the darkness. Darkness is not always the work of the evil one. It’s also one of God’s ways to teach.
Sometimes on the darkest night, the stars seem brightest. In the daylight, we may think the brightest thoughts, but at night we think the deepest thoughts.
#4: It Is Better to Lean on God in Darkness Than to Stand Alone in Man-Made Light
Isaiah 50:11 warns about lighting our own fire.  Man-made enlightenment can be deceptive.

 If we light our own fires and walk in that light, we’ll ultimately lie down in sorrow.
Abraham kindled his own fire after receiving God’s promise of a son. Tired of waiting, he produced Ishmael. Today the children of Abraham are still lying down in sorrow because of their conflict with Ishmael.
Moses received God’s promise but took things into his own hands. He became a murderer and set God’s work back forty years. Moses knew for forty years what it was to lie down in sorrow.
Simon Peter boasted that he would follow Jesus even to death. Then came dark Gethsemane. Peter did not understand and tried to light his own fire, cutting off the high priest’s servant’s ear. What an embarrassment to the cause of Christ! Peterwould lie down in sorrow that terrible night.
In a time of darkness, don’t create you own man-made light.

Adrian Rogers really has shown me how the most learned men of God can so easily fall.  I see that we can be so excited about what the Lord has taught us and shown us that we walk right into our own man-made light.  We must watch out for this and realize that all we have and know is from the Lord....without HIM we have nothing.

#5: If Your Sun Has Set, Be Sure Morning Will Come
Your dark night will come to an end. God will turn every hurt to a hallelujah, every tear into a pearl. Your Calvary will one day be an Easter.

It was a dark night for the disciples when Jesus was nailed to the cross and hung there, three hours of it literal darkness. It all seemed so inky black. His kingdom had shrunk to the narrow dimensions of a grave. But then came that glorious morning.


God sees through the dark.  His eyes are upon you in your darkness.

A little girl’s mother had died. Her first night apart from her mother, she felt alone in the darkness of her bedroom and left it to sleep with her daddy. They tried to sleep, but unable to see her father’s face, the little girl said, “Daddy, it is so dark. Is your face toward me?”

“Yes, darling, my face is toward you.”
“Daddy, you love me through the dark, don’t you?”
“Yes, sweetheart, Daddy loves you through the dark.” The little girl drifted off to sleep.
That strong man slipped out of bed, fell on his knees and prayed, “Heavenly Father, it is so dark. Is Your face toward me?”
The answer came from heaven, “Yes, My child, My face is toward you.” “Father, do You love me through the dark?”
“Yes, My child, I love you through the darkest night.” The father joined his precious daughter in much-needed sleep.
An unknown poet has written:
So I go on, not knowing;
I would not know if I might.
I would rather walk with Christ in the dark
Than to walk alone in the light.


Click Below to Listen!



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