The Dark Room that Increased My Praise!

I opened my eyes and I was surprised to see how much darkness there was around me still. It was just as dark with my eyes open as when they were closed. I was sure it was still the middle of the night, but it still seemed unusually dark.  I lay there a good while longer, waiting for any amount of light to come shining through before I tried getting up.  After continuing to lay there, for what seemed like hours, there was still no hint of light. With great caution, I finally reach my arms out, striving to feel what was around me, and all I could feel were hard, concrete walls. As I continued to run my hands across the rough surface, I realized these walls lacked windows. I continued to carefully feel my way around in the dark, hoping I would stumble across a door so that I could escape this dark and dreadful room, but my search was unsuccessful.

For many days, which eventually turned into months, I wandered around in that dark room, striving to find any way out. After all my striving, I realized the room had completely entrapped me and there was nothing that I could do to break free from this place I had found myself. I finally stopped that pointless search and fell on bent knees, crying out loud for God to work on my behalf. There was absolutely nothing I could do, and I was in need of being rescued. I sat in that room long enough to feel and understand just how helpless I was, and if I was to gain the freedom that I longed for, it would have to come from an outside source. I needed a Savior!

I didn’t stay in that box forever. In fact, I experienced a great and timely rescuing! I was in the box long enough to experience what “way maker, miracle worker, promise keeper, light in the darkness” really means, and therefore be able to loudly proclaim, “My God! That is who you are!”

How do we understand that God is our way maker, until we realize we need a way made for us? How do we take notice of His miracles, and see that He is our miracle worker, until we see we are in need of a miracle? How do we believe He is a promise keeper until we get to the point of needing Him to fulfill His promises before our very eyes? And lastly, how do we cherish His light and recognize that we need His light, unless we have experienced complete darkness?   

For a long time, I looked back at my time spent in that dark, empty room, and I would mourn over the wasted time, but honestly, it’s the time spent in that room that has fueled my praise to my King of Kings. Time spent in that dark empty room allowed my heart to be filled with an endless gratitude for what He has done on my behalf! I should have been trapped in that room forever, and you should have been trapped in yours. But God came, and He made a way, performed a miracle, flooded that dark place with His light, and set us free! The place of darkness didn’t have the final say so and therefore we have a great story to tell!

As we stand free today, it’s important to remember that many we encounter daily are not free. There are those around us that find themselves still in that dark room. Therefore, our stories must be told! It’s the message of hope that God has given us to share. Let those who still find themselves trapped in that dark and hopeless room know why you have hope today. Let them know that you too were once trapped in that room of complete darkness, but God heard your cries for mercy! Point those who are stilled trapped to our way maker, miracle worker, promise keeper, our light in the darkness, and let them know why we can say “My God! That is who you are!”