While It Is Still Dark

“She gets up while it is still dark; she provides food for her family and portions for her servant girls.” Proverbs 31:15

It was still dark this morning when I went for my walk (yup, kind of like it is EVERY morning I go for a walk…), but as I was strolling along – yes, I said strolling...it was the chunky lab’s turn to walk today – I thought of this verse. Now keep in mind, this was one of those mornings when I was really wondering why on earth I was out here in the dark, at five-something in the morning, walking my fat yellow lab!  But as this verse came to mind, I began reflecting about what it means and what it looks like to get up while it is still dark.

How many times have you found yourself in a dark place?  A feeling of hopelessness?  How many times have you found yourself in circumstances that feel as if they are absent of light?  Gloomy, murky, and bleak. 

Maybe for you, it’s easier to ignore the “dark” than to even think about admitting it’s there – let alone attempt walking through it.  Like if you even begin to think about it, you will break and not find the will to face another moment. 

Maybe your conditions are so bad, that you simply exist through the day – not really putting effort into anything, and really wondering how things could ever get better. 

Maybe you are battling an illness that prevents you from doing the things you want.

Maybe you just feel like nobody understands.

Maybe, like me, you battle with depression. 

Or maybe… maybe you just feel “blah”.

This is the “dark” I was pondering about… and yet, “She gets up while it is still dark…”

She doesn’t give up.  She doesn’t stay in bed.  She doesn’t lie there in despair.  She gets up. That kind of strength and courage must only come from God.  I know for me, there’s no other way I could muster through “The Pit”, if it were not for the grace and power of God. 

He said to Paul, “My grace is sufficient for you, my power is made perfect in weakness…” (2 Cor. 12:9). 
 

What if those dark moments are necessary to bring us to our knees?  The moments where we feel so low that getting up is the last thing we want to do - what if those moments are what it takes to bring us to the feet of the Most High King?  Maybe those times are necessary so that everyone who sees us – in our desolation and darkness – knows that it is not by our own strength that we press on, but only by the grace of God. 

Because that is what a woman of faith does.  She gets up while it is still dark – even when there is no break of dawn in the distance, she gets up.  She doesn’t complain about her circumstances, or compare herself to others.  No, she simply gets up, and trusts that there is One who can see through the dark – see her in the midst of her turmoil – and not leave her, but instead guide her through it.  

That’s why, even when others cannot see why, she gets up.

Dear Jesus,
Thank you for being my light in times of darkness. Thank you for your grace that grants me the strength to continue on – even when I think I can’t.  Thank you for your loving presence, and please help me to see You – the light – when darkness settles in.  Thank you for hearing my prayer.
In your precious name,
Amen