"Therefore I will look unto the LORD; I will wait for the God of my salvation: my God will hear me. Rejoice not against me, O mine enemy: when I fall, I shall arise; when I sit in darkness, the LORD shall be a light unto me."
(Micah 7:7-8)
Problems, trials, difficulties, burdens, diseases, death, and sin are often associated with the dark. The period in European history after the fall of Rome is known as the “DARK AGES.” Darkness prevents us from using the most complex of the senses – SEEING. And for seeing to take place, LIGHT IS NEEDED.
The EYE has a built-in LIGHT-ADJUSTING mechanism called PUPIL which opens wide under low condition, and contracts in bright daylight. This explains why if we suddenly go from sunlit outdoors into a dark room, we at first cannot see anything, but things gradually become visible within a few minutes.
Science calls this process “DARK ADAPTATION.” As PUPIL is to the EYE, FAITH is to the SOUL. Like the pupil of the eye, faith opens wide in times of dark crisis to absorb whatever light of hope is available. Faith allows us go through “DARK ADAPTATION” so that we can eventually see in the dark. Faith gives us the power to see beyond darkness. “For we walk by faith, not by sight.” (2 Corinthians 5:7). “We live by FAITH, not by SIGHT.” The eye can deceive us. Faith protects us from this deception.
The EYE has a built-in LIGHT-ADJUSTING mechanism called PUPIL which opens wide under low condition, and contracts in bright daylight. This explains why if we suddenly go from sunlit outdoors into a dark room, we at first cannot see anything, but things gradually become visible within a few minutes.
Science calls this process “DARK ADAPTATION.” As PUPIL is to the EYE, FAITH is to the SOUL. Like the pupil of the eye, faith opens wide in times of dark crisis to absorb whatever light of hope is available. Faith allows us go through “DARK ADAPTATION” so that we can eventually see in the dark. Faith gives us the power to see beyond darkness. “For we walk by faith, not by sight.” (2 Corinthians 5:7). “We live by FAITH, not by SIGHT.” The eye can deceive us. Faith protects us from this deception.
“FAITH and SIGHT”
Sight – sees the OBSTACLES, Faith – sees the WAY
Sight – sees the NIGHT, Faith – sees the DAY.
Sight – dreads to take a step, Faith – soars on HIGH
Sight – questions, “WHO BELIEVES?”Faith – answers “I”
In a cellar (basement used for prisoners) in Cologne, Germany after World War II were found these words on the wall:
I BELIEVE...
I believe in the sun, even when it is not shining;
I believe in love, even when I feel it not;
I believe in GOD, even when HE is silent.
Never put a QUESTION MARK [?] where GOD has put a period.
In other words, “When God SAID it and I BELIEVE it, that SETTLES it for me.”
Looking at JESUS will increase our FAITH. Looking at CRISIS will increase our DOUBTS.
FAITH provides the LIGHT for us to see beyond DARKNESS. “Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness.”( 1 Thessalonians 5:5). - We should be like SUNFLOWERS. - It always faces the direction of the sun. We should always look at the light of the world, JESUS, in times of crisis.
Faith is like a TELESCOPE. It allows us to see objects too far to be seen clearly by the naked eye. “Therefore I will look unto the LORD; I will wait for the God of my salvation: my God will hear me. Rejoice not against me, O mine enemy: when I fall, I shall arise; when I sit in darkness, the LORD shall be a light unto me.” (Micah 7:7-8).
Let us take a look at Micah’s TELESCOPIC FAITH. He said, “I will watch in hope for the LORD.”He was full of hope despite the presence of crisis, because he trained his sight ON THE LORD and not on PROBLEMS. We must look at JESUS and not at CRISIS, otherwise, FEAR will overcome us.
“But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me.”(Matthew 14:30). When Peter tried to walk on the water TOWARD JESUS, he made it. But when he SAW the wind, he became afraid and started to SINK.
What was the matter with Lot in Sodom? He lived a sinking life. What was the matter with Jonah in the fish belly? He lived a sinking life. What was the matter with Judas? He lived a sinking life. “Though I have fallen, I shall arise; when I sit in darkness, the LORD shall be a light unto me” (Micah 7:8).
Here is the determination of a man sure of his God, sure of himself. He was sure he was in crisis, but he was determined not to let crisis put him down. Yes, we may fall along the way. But let us not give up. Let us keep on fighting. One author says, “Greatness does not depend on never failing, but in RISING whenever you fall”. God can always turn our FAILURES into LEARNING, our FRUSTRATIONS into OPPORTUNITIES, our TRIALS into TRIUMPHS.
Faith is like a TELESCOPE. It allows us to see objects too far to be seen clearly by the naked eye. “Therefore I will look unto the LORD; I will wait for the God of my salvation: my God will hear me. Rejoice not against me, O mine enemy: when I fall, I shall arise; when I sit in darkness, the LORD shall be a light unto me.” (Micah 7:7-8).
Let us take a look at Micah’s TELESCOPIC FAITH. He said, “I will watch in hope for the LORD.”He was full of hope despite the presence of crisis, because he trained his sight ON THE LORD and not on PROBLEMS. We must look at JESUS and not at CRISIS, otherwise, FEAR will overcome us.
“But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me.”(Matthew 14:30). When Peter tried to walk on the water TOWARD JESUS, he made it. But when he SAW the wind, he became afraid and started to SINK.
What was the matter with Lot in Sodom? He lived a sinking life. What was the matter with Jonah in the fish belly? He lived a sinking life. What was the matter with Judas? He lived a sinking life. “Though I have fallen, I shall arise; when I sit in darkness, the LORD shall be a light unto me” (Micah 7:8).
Here is the determination of a man sure of his God, sure of himself. He was sure he was in crisis, but he was determined not to let crisis put him down. Yes, we may fall along the way. But let us not give up. Let us keep on fighting. One author says, “Greatness does not depend on never failing, but in RISING whenever you fall”. God can always turn our FAILURES into LEARNING, our FRUSTRATIONS into OPPORTUNITIES, our TRIALS into TRIUMPHS.
“LIFE of ABRAHAM LINCOLN”
1831 – Failed in Business,
1832 – Defeated for Legislature
1833 – Again failed in Business
1834 – Elected to Congress
1835 – Sweetheart died
1836 – Had nervous Breakdown
1838 – Defeated for Speaker
1840 – Defeated for Elector
1843 – Defeated for Congress
1846 – Elected for Congress
1848 – Defeated for Congress
1855 – Defeated for Senate
1856 – Defeated for Vice President
1858 – Defeated for Senate
1860 – Elected President of the United States of America.
Success is to be measured not so much by the position that one has reached in life as by the obstacles which he has overcome while trying to succeed.
(By Rev. Teofilito A. Rufon)
