Wednesday, March 20, 2019


50 Shades of Darkness
 By Elin Henderson

“For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ..”

Sometimes it seems that the darkness that surrounds us here in Africa is so intense, so heavy, so impenetrable that we wonder if light will ever break through. If there were 50 shades of darkness, they would all be found here: darkened souls, darkened minds, darkened eyes, darkened hearts... 

Perhaps today you are reaching out to people whose hearts seem this way. The prince of darkness has blinded and darkened them. Maybe you are not ministering to darkened souls but your own life has become heavy, dark, void and without form?  There are times in our personal lives that darkness threatens to overwhelm us as well. 

But lest we lose hope and heart and get sucked into this darkness, God gives us tremendous verses of encouragement like the one above in II Corinthians. Shining light into dark places is God’s specialty. After all, it is where He started. “The earth was without form, and void and darkness was on the face of the deep…Then God said, ‘Let there be light’; and there was light…” [1]

Let’s face it. Since the dawn of creation, there has never been darkness like in the book of Genesis. Literal emptiness, no light, no life - - nothing!  And somehow from that, God spoke light and life into being. I don’t know about you, but those simple verses bring a lot of hope and encouragement to my heart! Even to this day, He uses His powerful WORD to transform darkness into light! 

No matter the darkness that surrounds us, we have a God who is ruler of the day and the night. Darkness cannot hold Him or limit Him. In fact, He conquers it, speaking “life and light” into it. What our world needs is more and more of His WORD of light to pierce through the 50 shades of darkness! 

GOING DEEPER:                                                       
1.    What darkness are you facing today? Would you term it as a ministry darkness or a personal darkness? 
2.    How can the knowledge of the glory of God, in the face of Jesus Christ, transform this darkness into light? 

FURTHER READING: