And there was evening, and there was morning—the first day. (Genesis 1:5)
As it was in the beginning according to God’s created order, so it is within each one of His children: there is a divine divide between the light of day and the dark of night. Before Jesus granted us the gifts of repentance and faith, we lived in the darkness of night. Oh, we seemed to have life, and the watching world would have testified that we did, but Scripture makes it clear that we were “dead in our trespasses and sins” (Ephesians 2:1). The spiritual state of our hearts could not have been darker until that moment in time when Jesus spoke the light of life into our hearts. Just as Jesus called, “Lazarus, come forth” (John 11:43), and a man who had been in the tomb for four days got up and began to walk, Jesus Christ called your name, and suddenly your dead heart began to beat with new and eternal life.
But even after we have been saved, we must remember that both light and darkness still have their place in our lives until we cross the Jordan. When we read the accounts of the great saints in the Bible, we see both the light of day and the dark of night. King David, the man after God’s own heart, enjoyed the light of day as he closely followed the will of God. But at the time when kings went off to war, David stayed home, and he brought in the dark of night by his sinful relationship with Bathsheba. Peter witnessed the awesome light of the Transfiguration, but he also knew the despairing dark of night when he denied his Lord three times.
Do we not all enjoy the sunshine of good fortune and despair during the dark night of the soul? One simply will not exist without the other until Jesus returns for His second advent and puts all enemies under His feet. We may never experience this truth to the extreme that David and Peter did, but we all have our seasons of both light and darkness. During a time when we are enjoying a majestic mountaintop experience with our Lord, we must remember that we will be required to descend that mountain into a dark and lonely valley below. The divine divide we experience each morning and evening serves as an ever-present reminder that we too shall live our lives in both the light of God’s love and the darkness of His loving discipline.
Where does this word of encouragement find you today? Know this truth: if you are trudging through a season of dreary darkness, it will soon pass into the merciful morning light. And if you are currently enjoying the warmth of the bright noonday sun, know that this too shall pass.
We must not be surprised at the divine divide we experience in this life, for our Lord promised that “In this world you will have trouble” (John 16:33). But don’t stop reading there! Jesus concluded with, “But take heart! I have overcome the world.” And one day soon, when Jesus calls us home or He returns from heaven, we will reside in the new heavens and the new earth where “There will be no more night” (Revelation 22:5). May that truth strengthen us all as we experience the divine divide on our way to the Celestial City.
This is the Gospel. This is grace for your race. NEVER FORGET THAT . . . AMEN!
Grace for the Race 