Before the Morning...

“God says to you THIS day: “See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?”* The new day is coming! “Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the LORD rises upon you.”** God’s word will be fulfilled in YOUR LIFE!!!”

I sat there, listening to the CD of a past sermon from our church. There were hoots and hollers in the congregation from other saints, who were, likewise, receiving an encouraging word from the Lord; my voice was among them. You know how that can be – the preacher speaks on a topic, reads some passages – and then the Spirit downloads something to you personally, one that resonates with your spirit and speaks to your situation. This was no exception. The words were being read; a passage being spoken on the coming new day: the breakthrough is “just around the corner,” and the congregation was going crazy. I remember being apart of its jubilation: the Lord was speaking to me! Yes! I knew it was coming; my new day was just around the next bend! I could smell it, taste it; the breakthrough is mine! I receive it! Praise God! The sermon finished, I pressed eject on my CD player. I had heard the sermon before, and though at the time it was given, I was invigorated by the promise from God for the “new day” dawning…now, I winced. Shortly after the new day’s promise on that Sunday morning, my life had taken a turn into a long dark season of night…

It’s not that I was discouraged, or doubtful. I believed the word WAS real, that the promise of the new day WOULD come to pass…but now, I realized that, when the promise of the new day is made, darkness irrevocably follows. Why? Because, in God’s time table – the day begins in the evening, to separate from the previous day, and prepare for the new day:

“And there was evening, and there was morning—the first day.” (Gen. 1:5)

In the Jewish calendar, a new day begins at the sunSET of the previous day! In other words, the next day’s start is in darkness, before the light emerges. But we never think about it that way. For us, the new day is equivalent with the light dawning; new days mean “sunRISE” to us…and this is also true – the sunrise is the fulfillment of the promise; the consummation of a new day. Dawn is the manifestation or birth of the promise, but it only comes AFTER the preparation and development cultivated during the dark night.

On God’s time table, every word, every promise, every creation begins in darkness before it is brought to the light. For Creation, the world was in darkness and a void, then, it burst into light. For the child, he is first fashioned in the secret darkness of the womb before he is birthed into light. For the flower, its seed must be planted deep into the darkness of the earth, before it sprouts into the light of the sun. Likewise, whatever God has promised you, whatever prophetic vision He has placed in your heart for your life, it must be fashioned and molded in the darkness of your soul and circumstances before it can spring forth into the light of your life.

So why does the Lord give us these promises of “new days” dawning, when really, we will be seeing darkness first? Because, to God, there is no power in the darkness!

“(Jesus) having disarmed the powers and authorities, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.” (Col. 2:15).

"Death has been swallowed up in victory." (1 Cor. 15:54)

The darkness is only a miniscule detail that is necessary in order to produce the beauty and wonder of the light. For us, it is the light at the end of the tunnel that keeps us going; that helps us “hang on” to overcome and receive the reward at the end of the course. It is the assurance that God’s Word is true, and even though the darkness tarries, we can wait for the fulfillment of that Word, knowing that the light WILL dawn at the end of the long night.

“For the (promise) awaits an appointed time; it speaks of the end and will not prove false. Though it linger, wait for it; it will certainly come and will not delay.” (Hab. 2:3)

Do not be disillusioned if you feel that your promise from God seems to have been a mistake. If your circumstances say “night” – rest assured, you are in the position of birthing a new day. The day is coming; it always dawns after the death of the previous day. Darkness IS the beginning of the day, and at the fullness of time, the dawn will be born in light.

You are my lamp, O LORD; the LORD turns my darkness into light.” (2 Sam. 22:29)




*(Isa. 43:19)
**(Isa. 60:1)