“Now when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and behold, horror and great darkness fell upon him.”
Genesis 15:12
Throughout the Bible whenever God was arriving with His glory there also accompanied a thick darkness. As Abram is waiting for God to show up, he gets messy trying to prepare an offering, battles the birds that want to ruin his offering, and now he’s smack in the thick of a horrible darkness. Abram was working hard to draw near to God in this covenant, but it seemed like things were only getting harder.
Has this ever happened to you?
You’re drawing closer to God, bringing your offering to the Lord and then something happens. Things start coming apart at the seams, what may have started as a good situation is now getting dark, the birds are circling overhead, and like Abram, you are feeling a bit horrified.
What’s happening?
God is showing up. God’s Holy presence was falling down and in the thick of it all Abram couldn’t help but naturally feel a bit overwhelmed. This kind of reaction to God’s holiness seemed to be the usual thing, David would see and feel the same thing in God’s presence, Moses and Israel would see it when God came to the tabernacle and to the mount where the 10 Commandments were given, and Isaiah even saw it in the temple. This serves as a bit of insight for us…In the dark moments when we feel overwhelmed and horrified, God is closer still. His presence is always among us, even in the darkness (Psalm 139).
Even though in the beginning darkness was over the face of the deep, John would tell us:
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the Beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not anything made that was made. In him was life; and the life was the light of men. And the light shined in darkness; and the darkness could not overcome it.”
John 1:1-5
You see, darkness cannot overcome the light.
When I walk into a dark room and want to have some light, I don’t start trying to cast out the darkness. I don’t complain, combat, or counter the darkness…I simply hit the switch and turn on the light. In the same way when we are walking thru life and all of a sudden the lights go out, there’s no need to worry, fret, or panic. All we got to do is simply go to the “light of men” the “word made flesh”, Jesus Christ. And watch as the light shines, the darkness will not overcome it!
