By: Tom Jordan

“The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep.” (Genesis 1:2) 

The earth started in darkness in our passage but God did the additional creation of light. He divided the darkness from the light. He did not do away with darkness, but fixed it so we would not have to live in continual darkness. 

Darkness has its benefits. We often sleep during the darkness, unless you work the graveyard shift or have to respond to emergencies in the dark. In the dark clear nights, the stars make their appearance along with the cycle of the moon to give us beauty in that darkness. Sadly, the opposite is often true that some very bad things happen under the cover of darkness that upset our peacefulness. 

I heard a story of a dating couple that were traveling by train some years ago. Suddenly, they were in a tunnel. In the darkness, the young fellow did what comes naturally; he leaned over and kissed his girl. All of a sudden the train emerged out of the darkness of the tunnel and back into the light of day. The young lad was a little embarrassed when he was seen by everyone in the rail car still kissing her. He knew he had to say something to ease the moment. So, to change the subject and move on he said, “You know, they say that tunnel cost $500,000.00 to build.” With her lips still tingling, the freshly kiss lass said, “Yes, and it was worthy every penny of it.” 

Going through darkness can make us grateful for the light. All of us have gone through some dark times on our journey of life. At the time, the dark tunnel seems endless. But God give us “tunnel vision” with which to see Him in the darkness. Time comes when we emerge, sensing that God was with us and teaching us something worthwhile why we were in the tunnel. When we do come out, the day looks brighter than we ever noticed before. The Lord is our light and salvation (Psalm 27:1); even in the darkness.

The Rev. Dr. Tom Jordan is the retired pastor of the First Baptist Church of Epworth.