Where is God in the darkness? Lessons from a broken down pickup truck
While looking at some news footage of a recent power outage in the US, I was reminded of a very dark night when I was a teen. I was 16 or 17 and had been out at a party with a group of friends at a nearby lake. It was late at night (actually, very early in the morning), and I was driving home alone when Super-truck died.
Super-truck was a $100 beater. She was a 1957 Ford F-100 1/2-ton. The fact that it was my first “very own” vehicle blinded me to what a piece of junk she indeed was. I’m not sure what made this truck a “she,” but I have always thought of vehicles as “she.” Perhaps it is because Roy Rogers called his Jeep Nellie-Bell.
A Rolls-Canhardly engine (rolls downhill, can hardly go up again) powered Super-Truck, and her tires were not entirely racing-slick bald. When I drove her up to the service station, it felt like I filled the oil and checked the gas. She was broken down as often as she was running. My poor father had to come help tow her in or get her back up and running more than once. In short, she was a teenage boy’s dream of freedom come true.
I do not remember why she died on that particular occasion. It happened so often that they have blurred together. I was not impressed about walking four or five miles home in any event. The night was dark and pregnant with the anticipation of a coming storm. The clouds blotted out the moon and the stars leaving no light to see the way.
I walked, frustrated by the darkness and upset about the truck. I stumbled on the gravel more than once. I found myself wishing the storm would start because perhaps the lightning would help me see better. In short, it was a miserable walk on a dark street. It seemed to take forever to get home.
Sometimes our walk with God can seem like that. We do not see Him because of the clouds. He is still there, just like the moon and stars were still there on my walk, just not visible. We shout to the heavens, but every sound seems absorbed by the darkness, and there is no reply. We listen so hard for His voice that it seems our ears will burst from the strain. We wonder, “Has He left me? Is He gone for good?”
We cry out in the wilderness of the dark and do not understand. Where has The Lord gone? Why has He gone? Why does He not answer?
Sometimes He is distant because of our sin. We need to examine our hearts and lives. Sometimes He seems distant because He is building our faith. When he “reappears” after a time of darkness, the light seems brighter, and we learn to trust even when we cannot see. Other times, He is distant for reasons I do not have answers for.
Even when life is dark and there seem to be no answers from Heaven, He is still there watching over us. How do I know that? His Word tells us repeatedly.
For the LORD will not forsake his people; he will not abandon his heritage Psalm 94:14
Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. Isaiah 41:10
Teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age. Matthew 28:20
For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord Romans 8:38-39
Until next time, when you walk in the darkness, do not give up hope because God is still there.
Our God is faithful.
Hallelu Yah (Praise God)
Be blessed.
Kevin.