The 'DARK' Light

Is there such a thing? I have found it only in one place: The scriptures.

In the scriptures are stories of men and women put into extreme circumstances and I would say in almost every case, it was not the person’s choice but a result of the intention of a sovereign God. What I have come to know is that it is in the darkest of moments, we see the most clear and it is usually a vantage point that is reached by being swept along by an invisible hand that causes a forced result from what perhaps we should have or ought to have done ourselves. In my case, there were years I spent in frozen and suspended animation fearing the possibility of making the wrong decision…but for God. He led me from indecision to having little choice in the matter; and the way of return is shut. Should I have ever wanted to return to that place, it would not be possible. This in itself is my proof for a loving God who cared enough for me to force a way that had no other option. God does not allow options when it comes to His will although some might say so. So what do we do? We fight to maintain an allegiance to no other than to God and the words and promises we are convinced He has spoken to us.  Isn’t this the true spirit of forsaking all for the Master ? It is a well documented phenomena in dysfunctional religious groups that separation from family ties deemed by the leaders to be dangerous and satanic is reported across a wide spectrum of these nefarious organizations. What is really being done is not separating from those who believe differently. More often than not, it is an action that further galvanizes members to a leader’s influence – in most cases God really has nothing to do with it, it is simply leaders trying to protect their economic interests – follow the money as they say. Yet when one decides to cling to words believed to be sourced in God, there is inevitable pain and even broken-heartedness.  It is guaranteed.

OUR FOCUS IS KEY

What should be our focus in times of testing and trial? God.…Nothing  else. In fact this reality is the manifest presence  of the true will of God. No matter what you have heard from any leader take it from me, the true will of God is never by the hand of any man (Pastor, Elder or self proclaimed Apostle, Prophet, etc..blah, blah,blah) but it is a route we never could have imagined or engineered – friend, it is not supposed to be. In that true path lies elation and, if the truth be told, grisly horror where all the strength and personal fortitude we could muster melts away like hot wax. You see in the presence of the Almighty even the mountains melt. We find ourselves lying as dead men on the floor like cordwood and it is there we begin again. It is not a process of achievement and attainment as some  dysfunctional groups propose  and where the bar is set continually higher for the member of the group. No, counter to the position of some dysfunctional religious groups, God does not build elite societies as models of His Kingdom where the gilded look upon the tarnished with disgust. No, God brings us to a place where all strength and even ability has met the floor and shattered like a vessel dropped in the Sahara. 

A VALID QUESTION

You might ask ‘Why’? The only answer I can provide is God will not give His honor and praise to another so the vessels he will use must be emptied completely, ground to powder and reformed.  Yet in that reforming is the life and the direction we sought; it is only through the fiery furnace can the bonds that hold us be burned off. It is in those times we learn God. In my own personal  journey I have seen dark caverns of grief and have dwelt in places of pain and heartache but I have come to know now that is what God desired for me. Does that surprise you? Can a loving God cause us to live in circumstances that no one in their right mind would choose? Oh yes, and let me fill you in on a secret : it has always been so. The reason for such pathways is to confirm one thing: we do something for the right reason.   Because God is sovereign it is in the journey we take that we eventually bow to the plan and power of the Almighty…Notice that I did NOT say choose.  

LET'S BE CLEAR: Are we to live passively?

I must be clear here because many within  a dysfunctional religious group  have this mentality and may have even heard from those who lead them to be passive and accept their lot as the will of God. You see, DRGs teach passivity and prey on indecision and fear warning those who begin to think for themselves that they are entering into ‘deception’. This is a cheap ploy used to disarm the person from any sense of personal accountability and deferment of one’s life to the Master who bought them. Friend, your leader did not die on the cross for you and chances are they are filling their own pockets from your ‘obedience’.  I cannot say it any clearer – you have every right to question any teaching, in fact we are mandated by the scriptures themselves to test the spirits to see if they are of God. What holds you for the most part is the darkest of forces:  fear. Yet the Bible is clear that perfect love casts out all fear. We are not to live in fear and if we do, we have not submitted to God but succumbed to this world system and the master of it.

WAKE UP O SLEEPER: LOVE NEVER FAILS

To those in toxic groups, if I might say it bluntly: wake up.  Time and loved ones are slipping away and you are changing for the worse. Let me ask you a question: If you have a loved one who you no longer communicate with because of a difference in beliefs, would that man or woman you so quickly have set aside die in your place? Would they give their own life that you might live? Now the next question, would your leader do the same? It is a stark question but nonetheless one that demands an answer. Jesus laid down His life for us, our Mother and Father and our spouse  would as well but I have my doubts anybody else would – especially a leader for a DRG. I would gladly and without hesitation die for my daughters and my son, their spouses and their children. From the day they turned aside from Vicki and I, there is not a day we do not long for them and wait patiently and hopefully for their return. We believe in a sovereign God and we believe in them as well.  We saw and still bear witness to what was forged in them by us. Love never fails only grows stronger and in its testing it is proven and so called genuine and pure – this is the key attribute that reflects the Savior. I and my wife have been profoundly changed by the darkness and pain we have experienced – but we are the better for it. We hope to one day see our reflection in the eyes of our children because we have no doubt that one day it will happen, in this world or the next…it is only a matter of time.

A LAST APPEAL FOR SANITY

Friend, if you are ‘in the dark’ perhaps it is not the enemy of your souls at all, it is not the disfavor of those who lead you, it is the Hand of the Almighty moving you along unto conclusion, redemption and into His perfect will. Do not be afraid to stand and face the storm, the dungeon or the lash; the fact is there are more people than you know that will be there to support your decision to no longer be a part of the madness; they are ready and at the door and all is needed is a word uttered. These others that perhaps you have excluded from your life for reasons that may be clear to you or at least you can state why are still there, they will always be there to come to your support and stand with you in your decision.  Why? Because it is all about something that is truly godly, it is about love:

Love is patient, love is kind and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant, does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrongsuffered, does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails…

‘Dark’ Light…oh yes it exists, it is in its essence when God is very closely leading you, it is the shadow of His wings.