Faith is like the film from an old-style camera: it’s developed in the dark. Dark days make us lean on God. The truth is, if our faith was never tested, we wouldn’t be motivated to draw closer to Him. Hymn writer Edward Mote wrote: ‘When darkness veils His lovely face, I rest on His unchanging grace…When all around my soul gives way, He then is all my hope and stay. On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand; all other ground is sinking sand.’ It’s easy to praise God when life's going smoothly and everything's ticking along nicely. But it’s during the dark days that we discover the true strengths of our faith and where our trust really lies: in ourselves, in others, or in God.

When the days feel as dark as the nights, here is a Scripture you can stand on: ‘Let the one who walks in the dark, who has no light, trust in the name of the Lord and rely on their God’ (Isaiah 50:10 NIV). Job lived a good life, but he still lost everything. Troubled and perplexed, he cried, ‘He has blocked my way so I cannot pass; he has shrouded my paths in darkness’ (Job 19:8 NIV). Job could see no way through or around the situation. Then he discovered that when you can’t find the reason, you can trust the relationship. ‘My ears had heard of you but now my eyes have seen you’ (Job 42:5 NIV). When he made that discovery, everything changed: ‘The Lord blessed the latter part of Job’s life more than the former part’ (Job 42:12 NIV). It's never too late or too dark to see God’s light shine into our lives.

What Now?

Make yourself a playlist of gentle, faith-filled worship songs or old-style hymns that speak to you. Keep your playlist for times when you feel you’re walking through darkness and need a reminder that God’s still there, He’s still good, and He still loves you.