Treasures of darkness…

I will give you the treasures of darkness,
riches stored in secret places,
so that you may know that I am the LORD,
the God of Israel, who summons you by name.

Isaiah 45:3

Darkness. A time where nightmares happen. When things can be hidden. A time when attacks and other crimes take place because no one can see.

A time when tiredness and loneliness can come crashing together and make the world seem like a terrible place until the promise of a new start and another day comes with the morning. A time when the pressures and failures of a day come together and feel like they are insurmountable. A time when I often feel low.

But sometimes good things can come from darkness. Someone once told me that a light shines brighter when it is in a darker place, and it is so true. I still picture the block of flats in the early twilight she pointed to as she said this. Sometimes we need the bad times, the low times to show to us what the good times can be.

And sometimes God can work through our bad times to bring us into a better place. Even when it might feel like He is a million miles away, or that we have pushed Him away through what we have done, He is still there. After all, the God who made the universe isn’t going to change along with our feelings, is He?

It doesn’t always feel like we have riches in hidden places. I know it often feels that I have no riches, no value, no nothing whether openly or hidden. But that is a lie isn’t it? Each one of us has treasures and riches inside because we are children of the living God, and made in His image. Sometimes we just have to dig a little harder to find them, that’s all. But there is a promise in there, that times will get better, and through that we might know the God who has called us each by name.