Faith

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“I will give you the treasures of darkness, riches stored in secret places, so that you may know that I am the Lord, the God of Israel, who summons you by name." - Isaiah 45:3

Have you ever noticed how easily scripture and spiritual advice rolls off our tongues when the darkness belongs to someone else? ‘Take heart, God has a plan for you.’ ‘God will be faithful.’ ‘Turn your burdens over to the Lord.’ These are all great sentiments but the real power of scripture is when we are the ones to digest it in our dark times. Each of us has within our heart that secret place that we would rather God leave alone. It is the place we strive most to control, manipulate and calculate without God. It commands our constant feeding like an insatiable beast. We can bank on the fact that what becomes our worship will become our darkness. Because that area holds our greatest attention God will use it to reveal Himself, and show us His riches in those secret places. We will learn about His faithfulness and be comforted by His loving nature when we are forced to trust Him with our greatest need.

‘What we perceive as dark periods in our lives is designed to be treasures from God. They are actually riches stored in secret places. We cannot see those times in this light because of the often-accompanying pain or fear that prevents us from accepting these times as treasures. You see, unless we are cast into times in which we are completely at God's mercy for breakthroughs in our lives, we will never experience God's faithfulness in those areas. We will never know how personal He is, or that He can be trusted to meet the deepest needs in our lives.’ Os Hillman, Today God Is First.

I cannot tell you all the times God has responded to my deepest need with something so ludicrously unique to me…a moment in time that reminded me I have a Father who knows me personally on every level. When I experience a treasure in darkness I know that these are divine blessings from God. They are tender reminders that the words I give to others are also mine for the taking.

‘Brenda, take heart, I have a plan for you…I will be faithful…Give me your burdens.’

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