The Darkest Night to the Brightest Morning

Judith

Imagine what it would have been like to stand in the disciples sandals as darkness fell on that Friday night.

All that they counted on - all they relied upon - was taken away: mocked, condemned, and killed.

Mark 16:10 tells us that the disciples were "mourning."

The word used for mourning comes from a root that means "to experience a sensation or impression - usually painful." The word can also be translated "to wail."

The women were so distraught that they hadn't thought through what they would do when they reached the tomb the next morning - verse 3 of Mark 16: "who will roll away the stone?"

In obedience to the command that the Jews do no work on the Sabbath - they had to stay in all night Friday, all day Saturday, and, although the Sabbath ended at sunset Saturday, there was nothing they could do all night Saturday. 36 hours of hell on earth.

What would they be thinking? Would there be much conversation? The gut-wrenching feeling of dread would have draped heavily over the group, smothering, suffocating.

As they awoke on Sunday morning the Law freed them from the requirement to stay put - but what else were they to do? The person they had thought had come to set them free had been lost. Despair turned to depression and hopelessness.

And yet - at the tomb something had happened. The impossible stone had been rolled away - not to let Jesus out but to let others in. Jesus Himself was no longer laid on the stone table, no longer covered with the grave clothes - no longer dead!

But they didn't know it.

There was a very poor man down in West Texas in the 1930s who barely made a living on a very poor sheep farm around Odessa and Midland. His name was E. L. Yates and he was so poor that he was contemplating bankruptcy and allowing the bank to repossess his farm. He was constantly worrying about how he could pay his bills and feed his family.

One day a survey crew from an oil company came to him and asked for permission to drill for oil on his property. The contract stated that he was to receive every eighth barrel if any oil was found. At 1,115 feet they hit a gusher. The well produced 80,000 barrels of oil a day! Wells soon followed that could produce twice that capacity. Even thirty years later government surveys showed wells with a capacity for 125,000 barrels a day. It proved to be one of the richest veins of oil ever found on the North American continent.

Mr. Yates owned it all! When he purchased the land the oil came with it. During all the years of poverty he was rich and didn't know it. (SermonCentral.com Ed Wood)

What dark nights do you face? What did you think you had but lost? What despair has clouded over you as you felt alone, without anything or anyone who can solve your dilemma?

Hagar in Genesis 21

She left her master and wandered in the desert. Giving up hope she and her son sat down to cry and to die. God heard her son and told her not to be afraid - then opened her eyes to a well of water nearby.

The well had been there all along - but she couldn't see it because her focus was on her self and her plight - not on the God that provides.

Elisha and his servant in 2 Kings 6

The king of Aram sent a strong force to capture Elisha at Dothan. When Elisha's servant got up one morning and went out to fetch the morning paper and a latte for Elisha he saw the town was surrounded. He went to Elisha and said "what are we to do?"

Then Elisha told him not to be afraid. "those that are with us are more than those that are with them." Then he prayed and God opened the servant's eyes so he could see into the spirit dimension - and saw horses and chariots of fire surrounding the enemy.

The angelic force had been there all along - but the servant didn't see it until he went to the prophet for help and his eyes were open.


How do we get into our dark nights?

Like Peter through false faith & denial

Maybe once you felt pretty good about yourself - you were on top of the world - but then discovered your world was made of quicksand. Your intellect or your power or your wealth or your fame or your beauty was a deceiver. (And if you don't know it now, you will at some point).

Your own faults and failures caught up with you and dragged you down into the muck and mire. What you thought was faith was just bravado - and now you have nothing left.

Like Thomas with doubt

Maybe one too many disappointments has jaded you - so that everything is suspect, everyone a potential let down. You know people that believe in God and His Son Jesus - but your mind or your friends have convinced you that it cannot be true - "show me the money!" you say.

Like Mary through despair

Maybe your past or your present hurts so much - your life is in such disarray that you can't see through the tears and the pain. All you know is depression and sorrow - it affects the way you think and the way you act - it paralyzes you.

Like the other disciples through fear

John 20:19 says the disciples were behind locked doors - even after they couldn't find Jesus but had seen the empty tomb - no doubt they had been hiding away since Friday.

Maybe there is something or someone that you fear - and you've locked yourself up in your own prison - afraid to face the future - denying it and holding it off like a child who buries himself under the covers to hide from monsters.

There is a purpose in the dark night of waiting.

The purpose begins before we even know the Savior - the night makes us realize how little we have without Jesus - how bankrupt spiritually we are, how hopeless, how incapable of doing anything for ourselves.

It is then that we come on our knees to the tomb - hoping that our only hope has indeed been raised because without Him all is totally lost - or as the servant who came to Elisha we say "what are we to do?"

Perhaps God has brought you to a dark night of the soul - things are bad and getting worse. You are tempted to blame God but you know deep inside that it's not Him - it's you. You've blown it- the choices you and others have made have separated you from anything good - anything God.

You realize that what Jesus said: "I am the way the truth and the life" really might be true despite its seeming illogic. And you come to the tomb wondering, who will roll the stone away so I can get to Him? The truth is, you cannot roll away the stone to get to Jesus - just as you cannot save yourself or get to God by your own goodness or efforts.

But if you humble yourself, come to and end of yourself - you'll find that stone has already been rolled away, not to let Jesus out, but to let you in to see for yourself - He is risen!

You can have what the disciples had -

Matt 28:1-10 After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb.

2 There was a violent earthquake, for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and, going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it. 3 His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow. 4 The guards were so afraid of him that they shook and became like dead men.

5 The angel said to the women, "Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. 6 He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay. 7 Then go quickly and tell his disciples: 'He has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him.' Now I have told you."

8 So the women hurried away from the tomb, afraid yet filled with joy, and ran to tell his disciples. 9 Suddenly Jesus met them. "Greetings," he said. They came to him, clasped his feet and worshiped him. 10 Then Jesus said to them, "Do not be afraid. Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me."

They were fearful yet filled with great joy - fear because they couldn't believe what had just happened, filled with joy because it was true.

Let your life be filled with joy as well - He has risen. Feel it - feel the thrill, the release, feel the weight lift off your shoulders.

How do we go from dark night to bright day?

1. The dark doesn't mean everything stops
God is working behind the dark curtain (raising Jesus)

2. The dark strips away our false self so we can face the truth
You can't come into the light unless you realize you are powerless

3. Come to the tomb
If you stay locked up you won't see what God has done.

4. Embrace the Savior
Let yourself feel that combination of fear and awe - that "too good to be true" feeling tinged with extraordinary thankfulness.

5. Dare to believe
What is so important that it would keep you from believing? For once - let your guard down and consider Jesus - I promise, you won't regret it.

And for those of us who already believe but feel that dark night creeping up the porch - God will provide a well in the midst of the desert. God has provision for you already in place that you cannot see. Pray - pray that your eyes will be open to what God is doing in the spirit world - and not just focus on the world you can see.

Jeremiah 29:10-14 For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. 12 Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. 13 You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. 14 I will be found by you," declares the LORD,