Praise Him in the Dark
When the book of Genesis begins to tell how God created everything, it says, "The evening and the morning were the first day." You would think it would say "the morning and the evening were the first day," but God starts the day in the dark. At midnight, it's as dark outside as at eleven o'clock. There's no sign that something has changed. But when the clock strikes midnight, when nothing looks any different, when it's still dark, it's a new day. We think it would make more sense if God started the day when the sun comes up and there's an abundance of evidence that it's a new day. But God chose to start the day in the dark.
It's symbolic of how He does things in our lives. He gives us a promise of a new day, that He's restoring health to us, or we're going to lend and not borrow, or our child is going to get back on course. We believe, we pray, and we stand in faith, but nothing is changing, nothing looks any different. It's still dark. This is what faith is all about. You can't see it, but you have to know that you've passed midnight and the sunrise is coming. Healing is on the horizon, promotion, freedom, and the right people. It's just a matter of time before the light breaks forth.
In Acts 16, Paul and Silas had been chained in the deepest part of the prison in Philippi for sharing their faith. They could have complained, "God, this isn't fair. We were doing what You wanted us to do." But the Scripture says, "At midnight, they were singing praises and giving thanks to God." At midnight, when that new day started, suddenly there was a great earthquake, the prison doors opened, the chains fell off their feet, and they walked out as free men. God was showing us that it may be dark all around you, but when you begin to praise God, you will come into the new day. There may be a period of darkness where it doesn't look like anything is happening, but if you keep thanking God that He's fighting your battles, you're going to come into destiny moments when God suddenly shows out in your life.
You may have areas where it feels dark right now. Will you praise Him in the dark? Will you thank Him that what He promised is on the way? You may not see anything improving, but trust Him in the dark. The sun is coming up sooner than you think. You're already way past midnight. Daybreak is about to happen. Get ready for favor, get ready for breakthroughs, get ready for freedom, get ready for promotion.
It's symbolic of how He does things in our lives. He gives us a promise of a new day, that He's restoring health to us, or we're going to lend and not borrow, or our child is going to get back on course. We believe, we pray, and we stand in faith, but nothing is changing, nothing looks any different. It's still dark. This is what faith is all about. You can't see it, but you have to know that you've passed midnight and the sunrise is coming. Healing is on the horizon, promotion, freedom, and the right people. It's just a matter of time before the light breaks forth.
In Acts 16, Paul and Silas had been chained in the deepest part of the prison in Philippi for sharing their faith. They could have complained, "God, this isn't fair. We were doing what You wanted us to do." But the Scripture says, "At midnight, they were singing praises and giving thanks to God." At midnight, when that new day started, suddenly there was a great earthquake, the prison doors opened, the chains fell off their feet, and they walked out as free men. God was showing us that it may be dark all around you, but when you begin to praise God, you will come into the new day. There may be a period of darkness where it doesn't look like anything is happening, but if you keep thanking God that He's fighting your battles, you're going to come into destiny moments when God suddenly shows out in your life.
You may have areas where it feels dark right now. Will you praise Him in the dark? Will you thank Him that what He promised is on the way? You may not see anything improving, but trust Him in the dark. The sun is coming up sooner than you think. You're already way past midnight. Daybreak is about to happen. Get ready for favor, get ready for breakthroughs, get ready for freedom, get ready for promotion.