What has happened to me is like a dark cloud over my face. But the darkness will not keep me quiet.
Job 23:17 ERV
Have you ever experienced a dark cloud hovering over your life, casting a shadow over everything you do and making it hard to find joy and peace? Have you ever felt like giving up when faced with a difficult situation? Has the weight of the world ever felt too heavy to bear, and you felt like there’s no way out? What has really happened to you because of your faith?
How has your own experience in this walk of faith been? What affliction, pain, suffering, trouble, or challenges have you experienced that challenged your faith despite faithfully walking with the Lord? Maybe you’re going through a difficult time right now, leaving you feeling like you’re in a never-ending storm. It’s during these times that we’re called to trust in God’s goodness and sovereignty, even when we can’t see the light at the end of the tunnel. The good news is that, there is hope on the other side. Therefore, like Job, you don’t have to let the darkness keep you quiet.
Beloved, I hope you would realize that whatever darkness might have overwhelmed you but failed to take your life should not be able to take your voice. The devil wants you silenced even while you’re alive. I pray that you will also raise your voice, and like Job, you’ll say: “Yet I am not silenced by the darkness, by the thick darkness that covers my face.” (NIV)
Remember, the fire experience refines you rather than burning you to ashes. It is an inevitable test that you must pass through to get to your next level in your walk with the Lord. Remember that there’s no pure gold without having pass through the refiner’s fire. Likewise, you should maintain a steadfast walk in “His way” and not be silenced by the trial. More importantly, remember, the One, whose way you’re threading is committed to providing you a way out. He wants to shine His light in your darkness.
…But God is faithful [to His Word and to His compassionate nature], and He [can be trusted] not to let you be tempted and tried and assayed beyond your ability and strength of resistance and power to endure. Still, with the temptation He will [always] also provide the way out (the means of escape to a landing place), that you may be capable and strong and powerful to bear up under it patiently.
1 Corinthians 10:13 AMPC
