The Darkness Before

The Glory Usually, I let one sermon go as I become engaged with the next. Consequently, often, if out of the blue you were to ask me on a Sunday afternoon what I had preached that morning, my mind would go blank. I couldn’t immediately tell you. I don’t think that is amnesia or age; it’s just moving on to the next sermon. Last Sunday Evening while introducing our church’s 2018 theme, I preached “Pursuing His Presence,” using as an illustration the story of Moses desiring to see the Glory of God before traversing the wilderness. There was a point I made that night, that in all honesty was incidental, but I cannot let go of it in my mind. I keep remembering it. Believing that that main meaning of Scripture is the original intentional meaning, I never want to be guilty of eisegesis—reading something into the text that is not there. So, I acknowledge the point I made comes from using the story as an illustration and not from interpreting it. Here is that thought: God told Moses that He would indeed show him His glory. But, God said, as it were, “There is a little problem with your seeing my glory; you can’t and live. Not, a full dose of it anyways. But, here is what I will do. See that hollowed out place in the rock bank over there? Crawl into that nook, and I with all my Glory will pass by. I will cover the opening of your nook with my hand as I draw near, pass by, and then after I have passed, I will remove my hand that you might see the back of my glory as it recedes in the distance.” It struck me that, when God placed His hand over the opening of the cleft where Moses sat, it would have shut off, not only all the light of God’s glory, but the natural light of the sun as well. It had to have grown awfully dark in that cleft. As God was passing, Moses sat in complete darkness, seeing nothing. The application I made was this: We must remember, as we seek God, that often we will go through awful darkness just before we see His glory. The effulgence of the glory of God must have been even more brilliant to Moses for his having just been in such darkness. Just the remaining rays of the back of the passing of God’s glory must have totally lit up that little cranny in the rock. Many believers are often disillusioned, disturbed, and despaired over the darkness that descends on them even when they have been doing all possible to seek God, believe God, serve God, live for God. The darkness of grief, loss, reverses, confusion, doubt, depression, hurt, betrayal, trial, temptation, etc., has closed in upon them. Perhaps, even someone reading this today, for all your serving God, you feel like you are sitting in awful darkness—a darkness of life and soul. Remember, it got awfully dark for Moses too—awfully dark, just before the light flooded in. Today could be when God removes His hand and the Light of His glory floods your life and soul. God in His light and glory had been on the other side of that darkness the whole time. Yours too is the darkness before the glory.

The Darkness Before

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