Life is a scary thing. There is so much that is unknown to us about the future. Even what we do think we know about the future isn’t guaranteed. We only have so much control. So how can we know what challenges will come our way? There are so many unfathomable trials that people are faced with, from divorce, to miscarriage, to unemployment, to physical persecution. Darkness manifests itself in so many ways that it’s easy to imagine it happening to us. Or maybe you’re currently reading this and thinking that I’m crazy for thinking about these things. Maybe it’s just me. But nonetheless, I ponder the unknown of the future all the time, and I’m prone to fear it, to worry myself sick.
Ephesians 6:12 doesn’t help:
“For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.”
Awesome. God’s Word actually guarantees that we’ll be battling darkness, Satan and his clan of demons, while we’re here on Earth, no matter how that darkness takes shape. However, I have good news from God Himself, believers:
God will never be out of control, and we’ll never be out of His reach.
After you’ve read verses 7-8, I want you to picture something. Picture a huge maze. Imagine that it’s completely filled up to the brim with water. The entire maze. And now the water is spilling over the sides, filling everything outside of the maze, too.
So it is with our Lord God.
“‘Am I a God at hand, declares the LORD, and not a God far away? Can a man hide himself in secret places so that I cannot see him? declares the LORD. Do I not fill heaven and earth? declares the LORD.” -Jeremiah 23:23-24 (emphasis added)
There is literally not one crevice in all that exists where God’s presence is lacking. His presence seeps into every crack and hole. He is omniscient. He fills everywhere. And that means something even more splendid:
There will never be a place nor a season in life where God is not present with you, where He cannot lead you and care for you. We see this clearly in verses 9-10. There isn’t one circumstance within which He cannot lead us “in the way everlasting” (Psalm 139:24), where His ability to see us is blocked, His ability to guide us hindered. Not even weakened. Nothing can hide us from His presence nor His hand.
Not even darkness.
“For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” -Romans 8:38-39
No darkness, whether physical, spiritual, or both as it often happens to be, can separate us from God’s love. And if it can’t separate us from God’s love, then we can’t be separated from His presence either. How is this possible?
Because Jesus, the Son of God, defeated eternal death, the darkest darkness of all.
“He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him.” -Colossians 2:15
Not only did Jesus triumph over the rulers and authorities of His day, those who attempted to silence Him and do away with Him, but He’s more importantly triumphed over the rulers and authorities mentioned in Ephesians 6; He’s triumphed over evil spirits, over demonic powers, over Satan himself. His death on the cross, resurrection from the grave, and ascension into heaven was and is His final victory over the enemy and all of his schemes.
And you and I, Christian, can have peace and hope because Jesus’s blood covers and keeps us forever. So that means darkness loses, and we win in Christ, no matter how deep the darkness goes.
There is no darkness that is too much for our Lord. Jesus isn’t intimidated by it, nor is He blinded by it. As verse 12 says, “even the darkness is not dark to you; the night is bright as the day, for darkness is as light with you.” So in the midst of darkness, even there, God is present and sovereign.
So no more worrying ourselves sick. No more fearing what difficulties we might face, because there is nothing that can hinder Jesus from seeing us, holding us, and leading us in His eternal ways. Not even darkness.
Put on the armor of God, every piece of it (Ephesians 6:11-18), and face the looming darkness that is here now, and that will surely greet us again in the future. We’ve already won, because Christ has for us.
