Overcoming Darkness Like Jesus Did

Dark days. Everyone has dark days. 

Days of extreme stress. 

Days of abandonment.

Days of verbal and emotional battery.

Days of mockery and humiliation.

Days of what may feel like a crucifixion.

Days of pain.

Days of death.

Jesus had one of those days. 

And like most of us when we have one of those days, He finished His day in a dark place. A place of nightmares. 

Perhaps you've been in a dark place too? Maybe you still are?

When most people go to a dark place they are confronted by demons and voices. An overwhelming trap of hatred, violence and dread. Depression, anger and emptiness.

Jesus faced it too. Except for Jesus, it wasn't just His demons, but all the demons in hell. Every single demon taunted and ridiculed Him with hideous slander and unthinkable perversion. 

The darkest of dark places.

But here is what the devil did not count on - what he never saw coming. 

He thought the darkness won. 

It didn't. And it never will. 

Darkness struck.

But Light struck back.

The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it. John 1:5

Never. Extinguish. The Light. 

Jesus overcame darkness.

You can, too.

The Spirit was hovering

The earth was formless and empty, and darkness covered the deep waters. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters. Genesis 1:2

The other day I was looking at photographs of Pluto - you know, the planet that isn't a planet anymore. As I gazed at its beauty, Ephesians 3:20 popped into my mind:

God can do anything, you know—far more than you could ever imagine or guess or request in your wildest dreams! He does it not by pushing us around but by working within us, his Spirit deeply and gently within us.

Above the darkness, the Spirit of God hovered. Out of the darkness They produced a celestial being that would take us thousands of years to observe in all its glory. He can do anything - not by pushing - but hovering.

When Jesus descended into darkness, the devil didn't bargain on anything. The devil didn't bank on Jesus rising from the grave. Satan thought the darkness conquered.

But the Spirit of God was hovering - about to inflict the devil's worst nightmare. God struck back with the most amazing anything. More amazing than a dwarf planet - the resurrection of our Savior. 

In your life, darkness will not win. Take heart that the Spirit hovers over your darkness, and out of it, well, He can do anything.

God controls the darkness

By this time it was about noon, and darkness fell across the whole land until three o’clock. The light from the sun was gone. Luke 23:44-45a

In dark places you feel out of control. The mind reals with all kinds of imaginations and devastations. The devil would like us to think he dominates darkness, but he doesn't.

Darkness is a theme through the crucifixion of Christ, yet it was not the devil who controlled it. Even on a day when all hell broke loose and the devil was seemingly in complete control, God stopped the sunlight. 

Have faith in this: on the darkest of days, God is still in control. 

Darkness doesn't intimidate God

But even in darkness I cannot hide from you. To you the night shines as bright as day. Darkness and light are the same to you. Psalm 139:12

I admit, even at 41, I am still afraid of the dark. Taking out the trash and investigating noises when my husband is not home freak me out. 

Unlike me, God isn't freaked out by darkness. We use the saying, "I went through hell," but Jesus actually did, and He wasn't intimidated. Not once.

Darkness is not terrifying, it is not overwhelming. God is not threatened by your problem, your weakness, your darkness. He can and will break you out. Darkness does not intimidate Him. Don't let it intimidate you. 

It was still dark, but the stone was rolled away

Early on Sunday morning, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and found that the stone had been rolled away from the entrance. John 20:1 

It was dark, yet Jesus was alive. It was dark, but Jesus had already won. Victory was achieved in darkness.

Do not gloat over me, my enemies! For though I fall, I will rise again. Though I sit in darkness, the Lord will be my light. Micah 7:8

Though you sit in darkness, you will rise again - as He did.

The breakthrough has come, you just can't see it. Victory is here, over the horizon. Wait for the sunrise. Wait for Light to break. You no longer sit in darkness. Life has seen a great light (Matthew 4:16). Your life. His Light. Has burst on you.

Now.

No more darkness.

Ever.

Connect with me. 

I'm Sarah Coleman, an Australian author and pastor. If your heart resonated with my thoughts, sign up for my weekly blog, plus receive my free e-Book Be Amazing: You Know You Want To (in pdf and MP3).

Publication date: March 24, 2016