Devotions from the Heart: Dark Places

by Pastor Derek Gitsham

"What I tell you in darkness, that speak
ye in light, and what you hear in the ear,
that preach ye upon the housetops." (Matthew 10:27)

Some of the rarest pearls we find are found
in the deepest depths and so it is in the
saints walk with God. Oftentimes great treasures
are revealed to us when in the darkest valleys.
How often we desire that the heavy load be lifted
off us so that we might be able to bear life’s trials.

Yet the Lord does not lift a little finger to
remove it till we have seen the amazing truths
that He is wanting to reveal through the trial.
If God is allowing a dark valley right now it
is not because of what you have, but what you
do not have. He is bringing into the life fresh
things, new things concerning Himself that will
bring glory to Him.

So important was it that we understand the
darkness that Jesus said, “What I tell you in
darkness, that speak ye in the light.” He is
speaking in the darkness, in the valley.
He has not, as most suppose, left His people,
He is still there, but not in the way that you
have been used to.

Now there is no trumpet, no miracles, no
supernatural worship. Now the Lord is requiring
that you simply believe Him, believe that He is
here. This will mean that we will have to go
against things within our hearts that will rise
up against the absence of any feelings or
experience and must patiently wait for Him to
return to the heart in due time.

Isaiah 30:18 says, “He waits to be gracious
to us.” Not because He wants to play games with
us, but because we are not ready for Him. The
verses before this one read, “For thus saith
the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel, in returning
and rest shall ye be saved; in quietness and
confidence shall be your strength, but you would not.”

That little piece of stubbornness was evident,
but the Lord just says He will wait. A dark place
it may be, but it will be for our good, and when
we make it into the light, preach it.

Matthew 10:27