How to Create in the Darkness
On the morning of March 25 I woke up earlier than I had in a few weeks. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t mean to sleep later than my alarm clock, but since the time change, getting up early has become harder and harder. So on this day I found in the kitchen at my desk while it was still dark outside.
In the top right corner of one of the windows in front of me was a tiny spider. She was so little, I almost missed her. Her body was swollen and her legs needle thin. She was climbing in thin air. I saw through the light’s rays a thin, almost invisible web. She walked to the top of her home, and suddenly her legs began to twist and turn in a quick motion as she hurried downward.
My husband walked down a few minutes later and I turned to show him what I was watching, but when I looked back she was gone. Just like that, the sun was peaking over the mountains behind the house and as more light flooded in, I lost sight of her.
I guess she went to bed, I said to my husband. Like we had become friends, and it was perfectly natural for me to call the spider a “her” and I believed she was simply resting after a night of work. I had never seen a spider actually spin a web in “real life” before.
It isn’t a coincidence the morning I saw the spider, I felt the waters of despair – out of nowhere – invade my heart. With this simple incident, God told me: remember the work in the dark. Remember: you can still create beauty in darkness.
Create, even if life seems dark and sad.
Write the words, friend.
Sing your song with tears in your eyes.
Sew the material together, it doesn’t matter what it looks like.
Let love in and make the dessert. Cook the meal, even for just one person.
Mix the paints – don’t worry about whether it will be visible to the entire world.
God sees the work, and He is pleased. Keep working, spinning, toiling, and pushing through the darkness, the ache in your heart, and the cloudiness of your mind. Keep searching His Word for treasures of truth, and keep your hands busy and trust the results to the Lord. Forge ahead. Discover, form, and design. Remember the night season isn’t an empty season.
Let me remember my song in the night; let me meditate in my heart….I will remember the deeds of the LORD, yes I will remember your wonders of old. Psalm 76:6, 11
We can create in the dark, because we know:
1. We are not alone. God is with us, and He sees our work!
2. The creating helps us to find a little light during our season of darkness.
3. The dark season doesn’t have to be empty, it can be filled with beautiful things as well.
The darkness threatens to swallow us up, but there is much good be done in those pre-dawn hours. Thankful for how God uses his creation to teach us new facets of His character. And He sees and acknowledges our work in the dark, even when others don’t.