Navigating Sunset.

“Who is holding your hand when the darkness closes in?” -Pastor Sam

In this past Sunday's sermon, our pastor spoke of various ways in which the enemy of our souls seeks to instill fear. Over the next few days we'll consider some of these points.

The LORD overcomes the fear of darkness.

We sometimes go through life not knowing where to go nor what to do. The darkness is a metaphor for the lack of insight or understanding. We experience darkness in a number of ways, but three specific ones were mentioned in the sermon.

Economic darkness. This darkness is experienced in unemployment, underemployment, debt, or financial lack. The devil seeks to move us into a place of hopelessness because we do not know how we will make our living or meet our needs from day to day. Alternately, agents of the devil seek to promote systems in which families are caught in a spiral of compromise for the sake of maintaining income. This compromise manifests itself when people intentionally engage in actions that they know are against the will of God, for the sake of economic relief.

Relational darkness. This darkness has two faces. One side is experienced when agents of the devil threaten us by instilling of the fear of losing loved ones to sickness or death; the other side is experienced when the devil and his agents actively engage in actions designed to destroy marriages through adultery and deception. Relational darkness is a prime target for the enemy, as it undermines God's design for the sanctity of marriage. This fear, if not addressed, leads to a spiral of control and self-preservation that marks the works of the flesh (see Galatians 5).

Educational darkness. We see this in the lack of access to learning opportunities and materials, systems designed to withhold information about educational resources, and even the popular media's lauding of ignorance and apathy as “cool” ways of being. The enemy of our souls seeks to ruin a lifetime by causing young people to succumb to poor educational choices at an early age.

But we can be encouraged. If the LORD is our light, there is no darkness-- light and darkness are alike to Him. His Presence is near to those who call on Him in truth, and He has all power to rescue, save, and deliver His people.

Will we trust the LORD when we can't see? Do we have to see everything? Faith, the evidence of things not seen, is not bound by darkness. Appropriate the faith of God today.