Why You Should Consider Joining the Dark Side
I grew up in a small town in Upstate, South Carolina. For those of you who are House of Cards fans, it’s the hometown of Frank Underwood. I learned a lot from that small town and owe a lot to it. I learned about a true sense of community, family, friendships, and much more. Also, I learned something else there that is rare and almost impossible to experience in larger metropolitan cities. I learned about DARKNESS.Now when that word is said in the context of a Christian blog post, it has a negative connotation. But I’d like to shed some light on this (see what I did there) and give you a different view.
My argument is simple. Darkness isn’t bad.
Back to my Hometown…At night in Gaffney, in the suburbs (yes, Gaffney has suburbs), there is extreme darkness, unlike anything you would experience in the city. When there is light anywhere around, it pollutes the darkness and blocks you from seeing anything else. But here you can see more stars than you’ve ever seen. The stars don’t go away during the day or in a big city. They are hidden by the light, whether it’s the sun or man-made.Darkness is considered bad, but it is very good at one thing… Showing light. When there is absolutely ZERO light around you, the stars are much brighter and clearer. You can see constellations and the magnitude of God’s creation much more far off than a few hazy stars. It is clear and magnificent.
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No matter how far away a star is, you can see it when it is dark outside. As soon as the sun comes up or you walk into a city with man-made lights, those stars get harder and harder to see.
In the beginning, there was darkness.
The first thing God did was create light. But note that He didn’t get rid of the darkness. He separated the two. And for the most part, giving them equal weight in terms of how long each happened. They each have their purpose. God could have very easily made it light all the time. But He knew we needed the darkness and that it would allow us to see things we wouldn’t have otherwise seen. Additionally, note that the Spirit of God existed in the darkness!
"In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters." - Genesis 1:1-2 NIV
Sometimes we get distracted by the “lights” in the world that make it harder and harder to see the things that God has created and put there for us. Maybe God is trying to show you something that you need complete silence and darkness to see. I encourage you to find a place of solitude and darkness so you can experience God unlike you would be able to in a loud and bright world. We need to find time in our lives to find the “darkness” so we can truly experience and be in wonder of God’s bigness and power.
"The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of deep darkness a light has dawned" - Isaiah 9:2 NIV
Now for all you Star Wars fans, it's hard to think of the word Darkness and not associate it with a villain or something very bad. But even the “Dark Side” in those movies had extreme power. The power was used for evil things.
The point is simple...
Darkness isn’t meant to be bad. If you allow it to, darkness can be the best way to see God’s light! Find some darkness (or quiet) in your life, and I promise you will be able to see God more clearly!