The Lonely Place

 "And in the morning, a great while before day, He rose and went to a lonely place, and there He prayed." Mark 1:35 "It's a gift to God when we worship in the darkness." Sheila Walsh

The earth, particularly our part of it, is shrouded in darkness. The pandemic, the political turmoil, protests, rioting, murder. Many are living lives on the very border of despair. Many of them are believers, who are meant to have a hope, a hope in Him that nothing can sway. Yet they have been swayed. We are seeing demonic attacks not only upon the affairs of men, but upon the very faith of the people of God.

I am hearing from many different sources that as much as half of all current pastors are considering leaving the ministry. They are overwhelmed by a sense of hopelessness. If this is the state of the shepherd, what must be the condition of the flock? I say that with no critical spirit. I have been in that place. I have lived and ministered in the darkness, in the pain and in the fear. I have found, and I continue to find, that there is only one choice for we who walk in such places; we must surrender the heartbreak, and all the elements that accompany it, to Him. Oftentimes, the greatest gift we may give the Father is to give Him our pain. All of our pain. It is a great gift because too many times we cannot bring ourselves to surrender our heartache, pain, and disappointments to Him. So they remain, eating away at our faith, trust, and belief in Him. In who He is, what He has promised, and what He will be to us in all of it.

Michelle Cushatt said that we often equate the presence of pain with the absence of God. In reality, if we'll dare to believe it, the place of pain is almost always the place where we'll discover the rich realities of His presence. We don't often think of Him in such a way, but Jesus likely suffered a great deal of pain and disappointment during His earthly ministry. Surrounded by slow to learn disciples, hostile religious authorities, and oftentimes indifferent targets of His ministry. The One who came to save was rejected by most of the ones He came for. Most of the ones who were the object of His love. This is why we see Him so often going off by Himself, to lonely places, in order to worship and commune with His Father. Why are we so slow to do the same?

Walsh says that worshiping Him through the long night changes who we are. Only the surrendered can do this. When we surrender in the dark, this is when His Light comes. This is where we discover His mighty presence in that dark, and all the pain that comes with it. Could it be that He is calling you, me, all of us to such worship?

Will we come? How can we not? His Word says that darkness is not darkness to the One who is the Lord of all Light. Let us gather at the cross, in the darkness, and behold His presence. His resurrected presence. Come to the lonely place and discover that He is there. He always has been, and that He has mastered the dark places, all of them, and He reigns in them. Our God reigns.

Blessings,

Pastor O