Darkness.

Here's what I hate: Darkness.

"GOOD" FRIDAY--Today marks the day that Jesus was:

Bound

Questioned

Accused

Whipped

Nailed to a cross

Mocked

Abused

Yelled at

Provoked

Betrayed

Abandoned

Forsaken

And then…

Darkness

It was now about the sixth hour, and darkness fell over the whole land until the ninth hour because the sun was obscured...(Luke 23:44-45)

Funny thing about being in the dark—you can’t see.

Apart from being a bit awkward when you can’t see—running into things and the like, it can quickly get scary when you realize you cannot perceive what is around you.  What if something jumps out at you?  Thoughts turn to questions—“don’t evil things live in the blackness?” 

Our eyes strain for even the tiniest glimmer of luminosity—anything to guide our steps.

If we discover friends in our midst, we might cling to their hands—

Ah-ha! A person here with me!  At least we are together in the blackness. 

Voices become our only guide.

But what if they are leading us astray?—not maliciously, mind you, but because they too are unable to see. 

Still, we go with them because we do not want to be alone. 

Alone is worse than darkness. 

We need company.  We need friends.  We need to be loved. 

We long for love in the darkness.

But it is so dark, we forget what love looks like.

John 3:16  For God so loved the world that He gave His only son.  That whoever believes in Him will not perish, but have eternal life.

Love—unconditional, sacrificial, true love is offered.  But, love is not love unless it is chosen.

God loves us—passionately, honestly, and with zero hesitation.

But, He will not force us to love Him back.

He gives us a choice.

He shows us the way out of the darkness.  But we don’t have to take it.

Funny thing about light, it reveals things.

Apart from being bright and causing us to squint and wink and blink—it can quickly get scary when you realize that you can now adequately perceive what you look like—what you have been doing in the darkness.  Thoughts turn to questions, how can I step into the light looking like this!?

But, if you have trusted Christ, then you have put on His righteousness like putting on new clothes.  So, you can walk confidently out into the light.  Then, run into the arms of true love.

But today, Friday, stay in the darkness.

Stay in the brokenness, in the despair.  Feel the anguish.  Strain your ears to hear a heartbeat that isn’t there.  Don’t forget the blood.

Listen to the voices in the obscurity—comforting whispers that sound like love but reek of sickness.  Stumble around; grasp hands with those who share your desperation for self-preservation. 

Right now, it is dark. 

Right now, it is death.

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