Light is how we learn what darkness is.”

 Today, God began to speak to me about the reality that we don’t truly understand darkness until light steps in. As I sat with that, it caused me to think deeply about my own life. I’m currently in a season where it feels as though I’m surrounded by darkness—where it seems like there is no light at the end of my tunnel.

For a while, I struggled to find God in the middle of this. Through tears—spoken out loud and whispered in my heart—I kept asking Him, How could You possibly be in this? Do You not see the tears falling from my face? Have You not heard my cries? Are You not the God who sees—Jehovah El-Roi?

I found myself angry with God, because it felt as though my cries didn’t matter, as if they were being overlooked. And that hurt deeply. I often asked, When will this end? When will it be over?

But today, I paused and wondered—what if the darkness is not really darkness at all?

I sat down, tears flowing, and asked the Holy Spirit, What are You trying to teach me? Because I can feel You. I know You’re doing something in me right now.

And suddenly, Scripture came flooding back to me.

I remembered Joseph in the pit, left alone. I remembered Joseph sitting in a prison cell. I remembered Paul and Silas locked up in jail. I remembered David, forgotten in the field, tending sheep alone.

The darkness reveals who we are.

The darkness is the training ground where we learn how to find—and touch—the light.

The darkness was never meant to create fear; it was meant to build a warrior.

The darkness is where God teaches us how to abide.

Psalm 91 tells us, “He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.” In ancient Hebraic culture, shadows were not just shapes cast by light; they symbolized divine protection, life’s journey, and even the fleeting nature of life.

John 3:20–21 says:

“Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed. But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God.”

Sometimes, when we walk through the valley of the shadow of death, it’s not there to destroy us—but to reveal a deeper, more intimate side of our Creator. There are depths to God, and in order to experience those depths, we sometimes have to walk deeply through the valley.

As we move through the darkness, it begins to reveal what was always there—light.

Those people in Scripture endured not because of their own strength, but because the presence of God became more evident in their valleys. God wastes nothing.

When we look at the story of Joseph, even though his brothers assumed he was dead and told their father the same, Joseph rose up and became the very one who poured back into them what God had poured into him in the valley.

God wastes nothing.

The darkness reveals what has always been there.

We often think we endure anguish, grief, disappointment, sorrow, and seasons of loss for no reason—but God has greater plans. Even in the middle of the darkness, God is present, cheering us on. I imagine Him saying, “If only you knew what’s waiting for you.”

I thank Him for His grace and mercy, because His thoughts are not our thoughts, and His ways are not our ways. He calls us more than conquerors. He tells us not to lean on our own understanding. He gives us keys—over and over again—that lead us back to Him.

He is the source of our strength. The light has never been gone, we’re just learning how to see it in the dark. 

My prayer—for myself and for all of us—is this: that we would stand in the middle of the darkness and ask the Lord, What are You trying to reveal? What am I blocking myself from seeing? What are You teaching me right now?

You are a big God with big plans. You waste nothing.

You are an intentional, purposeful God.

Romans 8:28 reminds us that all things work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to His purpose. And because we are called, we know this season will turn around. There will be an end. Joy will come in the morning.

But in the meantime, God, help us to fix our gaze on what You are teaching us. Open the eyes of our hearts to see you in this. We need you, we embrace your presence and help us to remember that there are depths to you, so not to be so harsh on ourselves but to lean into you. I want us to Free fall in love with you in this season.