Light Amongst Darkness

Hello Bride of Christ, 

Have you ever experienced a blackout? Have you experienced it for multiple days in a row? It is quite the unpleasant experience if you do not have a generator or an alternative source of power. Personally for me the discomfort of a blackout is the uncertainty of when the issue will be resolved and the power of electricity will be restored. During a blackout your sustenance is threatened, as your refrigerator's contents are put at risk of spoiling, and productivity is reduced since you cannot work in the dark. 

A blackout is a great reminder of how fragile and dependent our lives are on the source of power around us. Even during the time of Moses this lesson was applied as God in Exodus 10:21-29 uses a blackout to illustrate to Pharaoh the Lord and only the Lord is in control. 

Darkness

In Exodus 10:21-29 Moses is told by the Lord to stretch out his hands for the ninth plague of darkness to be placed on Egypt. Yes, ninth plague. Pharaoh was indeed one stubborn person. Although Pharaoh's magicians and servants were beginning to see all these plagues were the finger (smallest part) of God Pharaoh continued to hard his heart and not give in. This plague unlike the others would seem minimal for what is darkness compared to bloody water or locust or even spoiled livestock? Think again. 

This darkness was described as thick, so thick that it could be physically felt. This darkness brought a great discomfort. So much so that the people of Egypt did not see one another, nor did anyone rise from his place for THREE days. Three days. 

The duration of the darkness is significant. A lot can happen in three days. It was the power of three days of fasting that equipped Esther to over come the plans of her enemy. It took three days for Jonah to come to his senses in the belly of a whale to go deliver the message of repentance to the people of Nineveh as the Lord desired. It took our Lord three days to rise from His grave and overcome death!

The Lord used the power of three days here to open eyes. He slowed down their activity. Another uniqueness about this darkness apart from its duration was its strategic placement. In Exodus 10:23 the Lord reveals that this darkness was not over the children of Israel. Although all of Egypt was in this blackout and could do nothing because of it scripture reads "But all the children of Israel had light in their dwellings."   

Light

Bride of Christ, the Lord separates those that are with Him from those that are yet to know Him. We are either in thick darkness or in the light. Where are you today? If in darkness, slow down and see the Lord is allowing this darkness that you may come to fully understand and know that He and He ALONE is the source and purpose of your existence. If you are in the light, praise Him for being the ONE TRUE SOURCE for your ability to see the unseen and sustain in the midst of the unsustainable. 

May we respond better than Pharaoh, who just wanted to drive these people and their God out of his presence. May we respond with surrendered hearts desiring to change and live lives for the great I AM as light amongst darkness.