The God Who Dwells In The Thick Darkness - Finding Rest in a Restless World

“He came into the very world he created, but the world didn’t recognize him. He came to his own people, and even they rejected him. But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God. They are reborn—not with a physical birth resulting from human passion or plan, but a birth that comes from God. So the Word became human and made his home among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness. And we have seen his glory, the glory of the Father’s one and only Son.” (John 1:10-14, NLT)

“And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love.” (Romans 8:38, NLT)

Yesterday we talked about how God is with us always. And yet there are moments in our lives when His presence feels harder to sense. We may cry out to Him in prayer in the long hours of the night and not feel His closeness. Or we may pour out our needs and questions before Him, and still the answers we are seeking seem distant. At times we might even wonder, “Where are You, God?”

Just as with the restlessness of the human heart, we aren’t alone in these experiences. From antiquity, people have wrestled with feeling as though God is hidden. The psalmist asked, “How long will you hide your face from me?” (Psalm 13:1, NIV). Job searched in every direction, hoping to glimpse God, yet still felt his absence (Job 23:8-9). And C. S. Lewis, writing in A Grief Observed, described a season of grief in which heaven seemed silent.

We often imagine God through metaphors of light where it’s easy to see His lustrous radiance. Still, Scripture also tells us that God is found in the thick darkness. Moses approached God, who was dwelling in the thick darkness, at Mount Sinai (Exodus 20:21). Later, at the dedication of the Temple in Jerusalem, Solomon declared that God had said He would dwell in the thick darkness (1 Kings 8:12). There God could seem absent, or at least mysteriously veiled. But in these theophanies, Scripture tells us He is instead drawing near to His people.

These Old Testament examples foreshadow the coming of Christ, the Light of the World, who made His dwelling among us. Yet though the world was made through Him, it did not recognize Him (John 1:10-14).

At the crucifixion, another great darkness enveloped the land (Matthew 27:45). There, Christ entered the depths of human suffering and abandonment. In anguish He cried out the lament of Psalm 22, “My God, my God why have you forsaken me?” (verse 1, NIV).

Jesus entered into this darkness, this forsakenness, so that we could forever experience the presence of God.

In seasons of spiritual dryness, when we don’t always feel His presence, God promises us that He is near.

We walk by faith, not by sight, trusting that our present suffering cannot compare to the glory that will be revealed to us (2 Corinthians 5:7). He who did not spare His own Son, but gave Himself up for us, is for us. And nothing in all creation can separate us from the love of God in Christ (Romans 8:18-39).

He is there beside you, close to the broken-hearted, even in the thick darkness.

Thoughts to Ponder

Where might God be nearer to you than you realize at times when you don’t palpably sense His presence? Ask God to help you trust that you are not alone.