When Darkness Comes

In 1956, my older brother and sister would walk me to kindergarten. I remember entering a dark forest, reaching for Pat’s hand, and holding tightly as we journeyed through the towering trees. It seemed like hours before we emerged into the bright sunshine and I would breathe a sigh of relief. As the light dispelled my fear, I no longer needed the reassuring touch so I let go of Pat’s hand. However, she kept me in her sight until I was safely in my classroom.
This childhood experience portrays God’s watch care over me. I blithely go my own way until a dark forest looms before me. It may be a physical, financial, emotional, or spiritual challenge. I cry out to God and reach for His hand to lead me through the darkness. Upon reaching the light of the other side, I let go and skip merrily on, often forgetting to say, “Thank You.” Like my sister, God continues to watch over me. I am His child and He is ever ready for me to reach up and grasp His outstretched hand.
A question arises in my mind. Should I release His hand when life is smooth and pleasant or is it His desire to continually guide and protect me? David answers this in Psalm 139. God knows everything about me. He understands my thoughts (v. 2) and is “intimately acquainted with all my ways” (v. 3). He is everywhere. David states that wherever I go “even there Your hand will guide me, Your right hand will hold me fast” (v. 10). I let go; He does not. I must hold fast to His hand through good and evil, triumph and tragedy. I do this by developing an intimate relationship with God through prayer, Bible study, and fellowship with other believers.
As an adult, I realize the dark forest of my childhood was a city park in Valdosta, Georgia. Like my forest, the trials I experience in my life seem immense and frightening. God sees and knows the outcome before I experience the trial. I can trust Him to guide me into the light. As I look back over my life, I see how God uses trials to refine me to create a vessel fit to serve Him. Life is much easier when my hand is in His when the darkness comes.
© 2007 by Ginny Holcombe. All rights reserved