From Darkness to Dawn
Commissioner William Roberts
Retired Chief of the Staff
USA Central Territory
Easter is here, let the celebration begin. Lent is over, the days of penitential reflection activity completed, our fasting has come to an end. This is a day we all can celebrate. There are no unhappy, joyless Christians on this day, this Resurrection Day; the whole world rejoices, heaven nature sing, Christ is risen, He is risen indeed!
Darkness Before the Dawn
But there was darkness for a while. For a few days it did not seem all that promising. In fact, if truth be told, it almost seemed hopeless. Jesus, from the cross, had said it was finished, and the disciples listening to His final words thought that perhaps it really was, but not in the sense of which Jesus was speaking. So the body was taken from the cross. Joseph and some women placed it in the tomb he had donated, and they thought it was over.
But it wasn’t. It may have seemed final, but it was a deceptive finality. For God was there in all of that, and there is never a last act when He is involved.
The lesson here is to have faith in God, not in stones. In life, God has many open doors that are shut and tombs that are closed. God never notices stones that may be placed across openings, events, situations.
There are many experiences in life where we are left as good as dead, where there seems to be no future, where hope is gone. We are devastated by defeat, stones are rolled across to seal things up, there is no way out. We are beset by failure, frustrations get the best of us, the last chapter has been written. We think it is all over for us. But gone give up, there is no need to give up: God is nearby.
It may be dark for a while, in fact weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning (Psalm 30:5). Just as a traveler comes in the evening for accommodations and is gone when the sun rises, so there is the promise of a better day tomorrow. If one will trust God. Because of Easter.
How Dawn Comes
The writer Hillaire Belloc tells of setting out to climb the Pyrenees with a friend who had never been there before. A terrible storm arose, night came, accompanied by thunder, lightning, rain. They tried to find shelter in the rocks, but the tempest almost dragged them away. The terrified friend cried out, “Isn’t this terrible? It seems like the end of the world.” To which Belloc, who had experienced this before, replied, “This is how the dawn comes to the Pyrenees.”
And that is how the dawn comes to our souls, to our lives, many times, after ravaging darkness. The Romans, Jewish leaders, put their faith in darkness, their faith in stones. But they did not reckon on God.
No Stone Can Thwart
Something good happened that first Easter morning, because no stone can thwart the purposes of God. God never pays attention to stones, nor can they stop Him, whether in the death of His own dear Son or the lives of His children.
Our lives do not need to be controlled or governed by the darkness of the night; rather our hope, indeed our salvation, comes with the dawning of the morning. All because of God, all because of Jesus.
Don’t put your faith in the storm, but in the dawn. Don’t put your faith in stones. Put your faith in God. He is the one who raised His Son from the dead, and He lives for you, for me, for the world.
Praise to the Lord, who, when darkness of sin is abounding,
Who when the godless do triumph, all virtue confounding.
Sheddeth His light, chaseth the horrors of night
Saints with His mercy surrounding.
- Joachim Neander
Our Corporate Prayer
Dear Lord, we thank You that because of Jesus, our lives are not defined by darkness but by dawn. We do not have to fear the storms nor do we have to see the stones shut us in any more than the stone blocked Your way on the day You rose from the grave. You brought us salvation. You brought us hope. You brought us meaning. Thank You that Easter Sunday is not just an event but a lifestyle because of Your continuing work in our lives and in our world. We praise You, our Almighty God. We pray this in the name of our powerful, resurrected Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, Amen.
Our Worldwide Prayer Meeting
Russia Territory
Thinking It Through
How often do we find ourselves staring into the darkness instead of looking to the dawn God has prepared for us? Or fearing the storm? Or wondering how the stone will be removed when, as Commissioner Roberts says, "no stone can thwart the purposes of God. God never pays attention to stones, nor can they stop Him"?
Notable Quotables
Our old history ends with the cross; our new history begins with the resurrection. - Watchman Nee
We join our friends at First Baptist Church in Dallas for this lively version of the Easter classic, "Christ the Lord is Risen Today." Hallelujah!
We would appreciate any feedback and/or suggestions on how to improve these devotionals. Please email comments to: [email protected] or by going to our website: https://southernusa.salvationarmy.org/uss/spiritual-life-development.
We would love to hear from you.
Lt. Colonel Allen Satterlee
Territorial Spiritual Life Development Officer/THQ Chaplain
USA Southern Territory