Not Waiting for Morning

I read it this morning, and I can’t get over it:

“He changes the times and seasons; He removes kings and sets up kings; He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to those who have understanding; He reveals deep and hidden things; He knows what is in the darkness, and the light dwells with Him.” Daniel 2:21-22

It was that last line that really lodged itself in my mind: “He knows what is in the darkness, and the light dwells with Him.”

He knows.

All of those things that we don’t.

He knows the shape the shadows take as they dance upon our wall. He knows how innocent tree limbs leap like monsters in the dead of night. He knows how silence echoes loudest in the dark, how it jolts you awake and makes you tremble. He knows how darkness can fill a space and pin you there.

He knows what is in the darkness.

He knows the thoughts that pierce your sleep, that rouse you when you long for rest. He knows the longings that you only let linger when the world goes dark. He knows how hurts you hid in sunlight stubbornly surface when the lights dim. He knows the secrets that you keep–the ones too dear to whisper, the ones too heavy to hold, the ones you fear that they’ll find out. He knows what you’ll only dare to doubt when the night wraps close. He knows what is in the darkness.

He knows you. Even in the dark.

He knows the shape of you curled under the covers. He knows how your fists unfurl as you succumb to sleep, how you wrestle waking by rolling quiet back onto your side. He knows the nights you long for light, for the sun to creep welcome through watched windows. He knows those nights spent waiting for morning–for day to reign where rest refuses.

But here is where that verse jolts me wide awake: and the light dwells with Him.

Jesus. The Light of the World (John 8:12).

He isn’t waiting for morning. He’s not hoping for dawn. He’s not praying for daylight.

He’s not even sending the sun.

He’s sitting right there. And the light dwells with Him. And so do we.

So open your eyes wide right there in the night and declare Him Jesus–Lord and Savior of all. Yes, you know that dawn is coming. But what’s more? You know the One who’s never been afraid of this dark. Because He is Light.

“Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lambthrough the middle of the street of the city; also, on either side of the river, the tree of lifewith its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.No longer will there be anything accursed, but the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him.They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads.And night will be no more. They will need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever.” Revelation 22:1-5

Oh, yes, the Day is coming. When night and dark shall be no more. But it isn’t yet.

And He knows that. And even in the darkness, nothing is hidden from Him. Not even you. He knows the shadows and the silence and the secrets and the doubts. And He isn’t waiting for morning. He is Light right there.