Being Comfortable In The Dark Part 2
Scripture: Proverbs 3:1-6; Genesis 12:1-4; Romans 4:1-4;
Last month I preached a sermon to you titled “Being Comfortable in the Dark.” In that message I told you that if we are to walk in faith, we had to get very comfortable walking with God not knowing everything. I told you that for some people that is a very scary place to be in their faith walk. The writer of the book of Hebrews wrote, “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” (Hebrews 11:1) As I shared last month in part one, if we are to walk in faith we must become comfortable being in the dark – walking without having all of the directions beforehand. This message is part two and it comes from a conversation that I had with my brother on his take of being comfortable in the dark.
Turn with me to Proverbs chapter three and we will begin reading at verse one. It says, “(1) My son, do not forget my law, but let your heart keep my commands; (2) for length of days and long life and peace they will add to you. (3) Let not mercy and truth forsake you; bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart, (4) and so find favor and high esteem in the sight of God and man. (5) Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; (6) in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.” (Proverbs 3:1-6)
When Solomon wrote this he wrote it from a viewpoint of understanding the importance of wisdom. He writes that by remembering God’s word and keeping watch, or guard over it, it will add days and peace to his life. But I want you to notice what he says in verse five. The first word in verse five is Trust. It comes from the Hebrew word batach which means to, “confide in, so as to be secure and without fear. It expresses the feeling of safety, security and being without fear that is felt when one can rely on someone else.” Trust is not something that just magically appears out of nowhere. No, it is something that is established over time and when it is firmly planted, there is a sense of security and comfort knowing that someone or something is very dependable. So Solomon said “Trust in the Lord with all your heart…” not part of it, all of it. We have to be totally secure, dependent and willing to follow God in all things. The next thing he says is “and lean not on your own understanding…” The word for “lean” in the Hebrew means “to rely, to support oneself.” Have you ever talked to someone that only relies on themselves and what they know? They do not take feedback or suggestions well and when it is given it is often received in a negative way. This person totally leans and depends on themselves. Now here is the problem: when we lean on ourselves, when we trust ourselves only, we are not leaning on God or trusting God. Do you see the problem with this?
In verse six he writes that “in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.” He tells us that we should acknowledge God in all of our ways and when that is done God will direct our path. That word “acknowledge” in the Hebrew means “to know relationally and experientially, especially signifies knowing what to do or think in generally, especially with respect to God.” Just based on this definition we know that this cannot happen unless there is an established relationship with God that a person has that is so firm that the trust is established through the experience of walking with God. When we have established trust with God and we know Him to be exactly Who He says He is the door is opened for us to walk with Him comfortably in the dark. Let me give you an example from a story that I read.
“A little girl was walking through the hallway of her home, and she came to the place where they had a cellar door. It was one of those trapdoors on hinges, and it was open. She looked down into the darkness, heard a noise down there, and she said, ‘Who’s down there?” And her daddy said, ‘It’s me, Daddy.’ She replied, ‘Well, I want to come down there with you.’ He answered, ‘Well, I’ve already taken the ladder away, but if you’ll jump, I’ll catch you.’ Now this was a little girl, and she thought, Jump down into that hole? You see, her father could see her because she was in the light, but she could not see him because he was down there in the darkness, and she said, ‘But, Daddy, I can’t see you.’ “He answered, ‘That’s all right. I can see you, go ahead and jump.’ ‘But, Daddy, I’m afraid.’ ‘Now, Honey, wait a minute. I want to ask you a question. Do you believe I’m down here?’ ‘Sure, I believe you’re down there. I’m talking to you.’ ‘Do you believe I’m strong enough to catch you?’ ‘I believe you’re strong enough to catch me.’ ‘OK,’ he said, ‘do you believe that I love you?’ ‘Yes, Daddy, I believe you love me.’ “He asked, ‘Have I ever told you a lie?’ ‘No, you’ve never told me a lie.’ ‘OK, you know I’m here, and I love you, and I would never lie to you. Now jump.’ And she said, ‘OK, Daddy, here I come.’ She stepped off into the black hole, and her Daddy caught her, gave her a hug, and sat her down.”
Do you see what it took for that little girl to step off into the darkness? She was able to take that step because of her relationship with her father. Her father reminded her of who he was to her. He reminded her that he had never told her something that was not true. So based on that understanding the little girl was able to reach the decision that if she stepped out into the darkness her father would catch her. How did she know this? She knew this because her father reminded her that he had never lied to her. If he told her now that he could see her and would catch her then she could believe it because her father has a history of telling her the truth. Based on that history, the girl stepped off into the darkness. Do you have this type of trust with God? The type of trust where you are looking down a dark hole and God is telling you to jump into the darkness. Are you jumping or are you still standing on the side squinting trying to see if God is really there. New Light in order for us to step out into the darkness we must trust God – explicitly! When you read through the Bible we all know that Abraham was such a man who believed God and stepped out into the darkness fully trusting God.
Genesis 12:1-4 records the following, “(1) Now the LORD had said to Abram: ‘Get out of your country, from your family and from your father's house, to a land that I will show you. (2) I will make you a great nation; I will bless you and make your name great; and you shall be a blessing. (3) I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.’ (4) So Abram departed as the LORD had spoken to him, and Lot went with him. And Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran.” (Genesis 12:1-4) All of you know this story well. God called Abraham to leave his family, his father’s house, and travel to a land that God would show him. God did not tell Abraham where He was taking Him and from everything we see in Scripture Abraham did not ask. New Light, Abraham literally stepped out into the darkness. He had spent seventy-five years living with his father, on the land his father owned. His whole life was spent on his father’s land and now that he was old God was calling him to step out into the darkness. So my question to all of you is this: “Are you too old for God to call you into the darkness?” because when you think about it He is calling us to step out.
In Genesis 12:1 God gives Abraham a command – “(1) Get out of your country, from your family and from your father's house, to a land that I will show you.” In verse two and three God tells Abraham what would follow if he did what God was commanding – “(2) I will make you a great nation; I will bless you and make your name great; and you shall be a blessing. (3) I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” Then in verse four we see how Abraham responded – “(4) So Abram departed as the LORD had spoken to him, and Lot went with him. And Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran.” Abraham left his father’s house to go into the darkness – to go where he had never gone before possibly. He packed his belongings and started walking.
Now we know that Abraham fulfilled everything that God had told him to do because we are part of those blessed because of his obedience. Turn with me to Romans chapter four. We are going to begin reading at verse eighteen. It says, “(18) Who, contrary to hope, in hope believed, so that he became the father of many nations, according to what was spoken, ‘SO SHALL YOUR DESCENDANTS BE.’ (19) And not being weak in faith, he did not consider his own body, already dead (since he was about a hundred years old), and the deadness of Sarah’s womb. (20) He did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God, (21) and being fully convinced that what He had promised He was also able to perform.” (Romans 4:18-21) In verse eighteen it says Abraham, “contrary to hope, in hope believed…” Abraham was asked to believe something that was impossible – that he would have a son in his old age. Abraham and Sarah were clueless as to how God would do this but Abraham yet believed. He left his father’s house at an old age at God’s command and so far God had done everything that he told Abraham he would do. Abraham trusted God and like the little girl who stepped off the ledge into the hole to be caught by her father, Abraham believed he was always in God’s hands. Abraham was comfortable in the dark!
How many of you have ever heard of Helen Keller or seen the movie The Miracle Worker? The Miracle Worker, a documentary movie about Helen Keller was released in 1962. Keller was born in 1880 in Alabama and lost her sight and her hearing after an illness when she was 19 months old. Anne Sullivan, her first teacher and life-long companion, taught her language, including reading and writing. Keller graduated from Radcliffe College of Harvard University and became the first deaf/blind person in the US to earn a Bachelor of Arts degree. She died in 1968 at the age of 87.
A devout Christian, Keller wrote the following: “Dark as my path may seem to others, I carry a magic light in my heart. Faith, the spiritual, strong searchlight, illumines the way, and although sinister doubts lurk in the shadow, I walk unafraid toward the Enchanted Wood where foliage is always green, where joy abides, where nightingales nest and sing, and where life and death are one in the presence of the Lord.” Because of her faith and her trust in the Lord, Helen Keller was comfortable in the dark. Can you imagine, after seeing all of your life, becoming blind and living out the remainder of your days blind? She was only able to see for 19 months but spent 85+ years in the dark, comfortable!
Second Corinthians 5:7 says, “For we walk by faith, not by sight.” The first step in following God’s way is to walk by faith and not by sight. Put another way: to be comfortable in the dark. I told you in part one that we have to be willing to become very comfortable not knowing which is like walking around with your eyes closed. Being able to see things provides us with a level of security and comfort but to walk with God we have to be willing to remove that. We have to be willing to step out into the unknown. We have to be comfortable saying “I do not know where God is taking me but I am going. I will go where He leads.” All Abraham had to go on was what God had said. There was nothing in the natural that indicated he would be the father of nations. Absolutely nothing! Abraham believed God!
First Peter 1:7-8 says, “(7) That the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ, (8) whom having not seen you love. Though now you do not see Him, yet believing, you rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory.” (First Peter 1:7-8) Our faith in Christ instills within us a personal living confidence that is as strong as that of those who had actually seen Him. This faith produces joy but it also produces something else, a lack of fear of the dark. When we are walking in this faith, we are not afraid of not knowing; we do not need to know everything that God is doing. New Light, faith is being comfortable in the dark. We know God is there. He speaks to us down inside. We know He cannot lie. We believe in His strength, and we know He loves us. So, when He says “go,” we go – just like Abraham did. When He says, “jump,” we jump – just like Abraham did. When He says, “leap,” we leap – just like Abraham did. This is the testimony of Abraham as recorded in Romans 4:3; “For what does the Scripture say? ‘ABRAHAM BELIEVED GOD, AND IT WAS ACCOUNTED TO HIM FOR RIGHTEOUSNESS.’”
New Light, I want that to be my testimony in heaven. When I get there I want those who have gone before me to say “Rodney believed God and it was counted to him for righteousness.” When I started this Church twenty-one years ago my pastor at the time told me that it would not work. My friends who were ministers and Church leaders turned their back on me and began to talk about me. These were people who had eaten in my home and some had actually stayed there. When I announced that Cynthia would preach her first sermon at the Church and would be ordained as a minister a pastor from a local Baptist church called me and told me that I was wrong and stepping outside of what the Bible said. When I ordained a person as a deacon, a family left the Church because they did not believe that person was worthy to be a deacon. A few years later the situation was repeated. Why am I telling you this? In each of these situations God required me to walk in the dark because I did not know where things would end up. All I heard was what people were saying to and about me and I had to tune it all out to follow God into the darkness. If you take nothing else from this message please take this: When God is leading you into the darkness with Him, do not let man provide you with their light in hope of you seeing what they are seeing!
Until next time, “The Lord bless you and keep you. May the Lord make His face shine on you and be gracious to you. May the Lord lift up His countenance on you and give you peace.” (Numbers 6:24-26)
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