Darkness

 

20 Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance.
John 20:1

 

I’m not a big fact of darkness. I don’t like hanging out in the dark, and I certainly don’t like sitting in relationship darkness. The most difficult time of the year from me is the winter—not because I don’t love the snow, Christmas, beautiful lights, or cooler weather; but simply because the days are so much shorter, and darkness seems to dominate!

 

Regardless of those facts, and even though I don’t like it, I still have to remember that God is working in the midst of it. I was reading in John 20 the other day. This is the part of the story where Jesus has died and been buried. It’s the first day of the week, Sunday, and Mary is on her way to the tomb. Jesus has been gone for a few days and nothing seems to be the same. In fact, to those who were following Jesus, the world has been turned upside down.

 

It wasn’t supposed to be this way. Jesus’ followers thought that He was going to be the one who saved them. Jesus was the messiah that they had longed for; the one they had prayed for; the one they had so desperately waited for. And yet just a few days earlier he breathed his last breathe. He had been wrapped and placed in the tomb that wasn’t even his.

 

From every conceivable and logical notion, the movement and change that Jesus had begun was laid to rest with Him in the tomb. His disciples were gathering in secret, unsure of what to do next. I can imagine despair and confusion overwhelmed every thought that crossed through their minds. And there was an uncertainty about the future and a fear that they might be next. Darkness swarmed them! Impossibilities overwhelmed them!

 

So often when life seems out of control and beyond comprehension we stop and settle into fear. The darkness causes us to pause and examine if we are truly stepping in the right direction.
Mary showed us how to respond in the darkness. On this morning, she made a choice. She returned to what she knew. She returned to the last time and the last location where she had seen her savior. She returned to where she knew He was, even if the circumstances were not what she thought they were to be. And she did all of that in the darkness.

Think about this. Mary was going to see Jesus. She had no idea He was alive. She had no idea that He had been raised. She had no idea that death had been defeated. She had no idea that there was any hope at all. She even knew that Roman soldiers were stationed at the tomb. What was she going to do when she got there? None of that seemed to matter. She moved forward in the darkness towards Jesus.
She set an example for all of us. Even in the darkness where there don’t appear to be any answers and logical understanding has bypassed everyone and everything, we are to trust in Jesus. He will bring us out of the darkness and into the light. He will restore our hope and bring joy to our lives. He will establish a peace in your soul that will not be moved. Embrace Him today! In the darkness move towards Him and He will change everything.