Hidden Treasure

From a young age, I can remember being aware of a spiritual darkness, but I didn’t have the accurate words to describe the pain that I sensed from others and within me. Yet, people often told me I had a beautiful smile that brightened a room. So, I learned to pretend that light was burning bright within me and to ignore the hovering darkness. 

Treasures of Darkness

It wasn’t until I was a young adult that a mentor shared Isaiah 45:3 with me, and it absolutely undid me. “I will give you treasures of darkness and riches in secret places so that you may know that I am the Lord. I am the God of Israel, who calls you by your name.” It gave me permission to stop reframing the dark things in my life in ways that made them seem softer or less destructive than they were. I didn’t have to ignore or fear them; God would overpower them and use them to strengthen me. 

I heard the Lord whisper in that still small voice, “Charlotte, you are a treasure, hidden in darkness so that you will know that it is I the Lord your God who has called you by name.”  My soul flooded with freedom, and it made way for miraculous healing in me. This freedom led me on a journey of exploration to discover a repeating pattern throughout Scripture. God led his people to discover him even in the darkness, to grow closer to him and find great treasures there. God had blessings stored up for me in the darkness, hidden for me. I just had to open my eyes to them, claim them.

God’s Perfect Timing

Throughout the Old Testament, the voices of prophets declared God’s love and mercy and pointed toward him sending a Savior—one who would redeem us and set everything right. But between the Old Testament and the New, there are hundreds of years of silence…of darkness. Treasures remained hidden until God’s perfect timing.

It isn’t until one starry night that everything changes. Jesus is born. The Savior. The true light comes into the world.

Advent is a time when we focus on this miraculous light breaking across the darkness. But are we listening well enough to hear him call us by name? He is our way out of the darkest places. His purposes for our lives shine light, truth, and love into this world like nothing else. 

Reflect:
What dark areas of your story do you need to allow the light of the Gospel to shine?