When the darkness closes in, Lord… what will I say?

In fact do we even have an idea of what this means? It’s not about a “one way ticket to hell and back”*

It’s a good, emotive song line, But 21st century church theology isn’t particularly hot on understanding about “when the darkness closes in” and what we should do when it does.

I can ‘see’ several spins on what this phrase might mean: difficult circumstances, hardship, disasters. Those are all good times to proclaim the Lordship and ‘blessedness’ of Jesus. But what about when things are a little closer to home, not in the big and external pressures and struggles, but the ones when the darkness closes with things that affect us in our daily lives.

Paul talks about us not being aware of the enemy's plans, in this case in the context of relationship:

2 Corinthians 2:10-11
When you forgive this man, I forgive him, too. And when I forgive whatever needs to be forgiven, I do so with Christ’s authority for your benefit, so that Satan will not outsmart us. For we are familiar with his evil schemes.

He also talks about the mind being a battleground, and the need to take thoughts captive so that they may be brought under the authority of Jesus, instead of being allowed to rule us. So in this context I’d very much see the mind as being one of the places that darkness closes in on, in order to sway and divert us.

This is quite personal for me. I’m very much aware of some of satan’s evil schemes, and the damage he’d like to do to me and others through them. How much harm would it do if I had an affair? How many would be wounded in the church if I were (more?) careless or lacked self-restraint in my words with fragile people I’m supposed to care for? What about if I stole things in order to help my business survive? The mind is a battle ground.

It’s natural to assume that as a Christian, the more mature you are, the less of an issue these things become: you recognise where they come from and you deal with them almost out of habit. I’d strongly suggest this is not the case, and that in fact these things are a daily battle for anyone living out in the world. Certainly one can expose oneself to greater risk, but to think that you’re safe just because you’ve 20 or more years experience is foolishness and begging for a practical demonstration otherwise.

Sunday night is when HPC has a prayer meeting bordering on a Quaker approach, with times of waiting and times of sharing. Certain words came out for me that have continued to resonate (now there’s a good PoMo word!) about Elijah, living in difficult places, receiving food from unclean/unacceptable sources and the need to run across a desert to find God.

One of the interesting things that came out from discussion afterward was the point of view that Elijah didn’t have to go through the times of difficulty that he did – if he’d just had faith, God would have taken care of him.

There was certainly a time when I’d have agreed in an “all you need is… faith” kind of way. Like every situation can be sorted out if we’d just deal with it right – take it to God and all will be well again. But now I’m not at all sure – Jesus walked past plenty of sick and hurt people without healing them. It seems so often that God does take us through pain, struggle, uncertainty, distress, trauma in our walk with Him. And sometimes we come out of it stronger, more able, more useful.

And sometimes we come out worse.

There’s also an aspect of the oft quoted phrase “in all things God works together for the good of those who love Him” that makes me wonder if this is quoted to just keep people having a bad time quiet and hopeful. A friend recently commented that the church is the only army that actually shoots it’s own wounded, and she’d certainly witnessed plenty of that too. Is God at work for the good of those who love Him when that happens? How long a view do we need to take? Does everyone get a ‘Joseph outcome’ in the end?

And cynicism is a VERY dangerous thing too.

So what’s this blog post about? Well, it could be just a vaguely themed stream of consciousness kind of thing, and it could also be a challenge for those who just mindlessly sing song lyrics because the song is cool and apparently anointed. It’s not intended to be an expression of personal angst, though it is a way of expressing carried thoughts. But one of the most subtle, hard to spot, yet most devastating areas in which we can be affected is our minds. I am not convinced that quoting Ephesians 6 is the entire solution.

What do you say and do when the darkness closes in?


*It’s the title of the last album from a band called The Darkness. Without a sense of humour you might as well just stay miserable.