WFTD: The Darkness is no place to hide ( חשֶׁךְ: choshek)

He said to me, “Son of man, have you seen what the elders of Israel are doing in the darkness, each at the shrine of his own idol? They say, ‘The LORD does not see us; the LORD has forsaken the land.’ Ezekiel 8:12

For many, these are dark days for many reasons—you can’t feed your family, you fear sending your child to school; you are afraid to speak your mind. Not all darkness is created equal. There is the literal absence of light that results in a stubbed toe in the middle of the night. But it’s the figurative darkness of the soul that leaves you feeling alone, forsaken, dumbfounded.

EXPOSITION: In Hebrew, darkness— חשֶׁךְ: choshek—figuratively, means ignorance. To be in the dark is to think you know but you don’t. You think you’re smart but you’re not which leads you to you doing some dumb stuff.BACKSTORY: In Ezekiel 8, God’s people were doing some dumb stuff. They were worshipping idols in the dark believing  God could not see them. It was like they were putting hands over their eyes. Yet in the light, they were being violent and unjust to the least. Could not God see that?

ILLUSTRATION: This month we’ve seen a college shooting, a high school shooting that same day, a thwarted mass shooting plot of a 13-year-old, and a shooting at a military academy.

God not only sees the bad, but He also sees the good no matter how small like princess and her little angel fan. Quora.com tells this story:

“At my daughter's birthday dinner, a little girl about 3 or 4 years old saw my daughter walk into the restaurant. While we were all enjoying the moment, the little girl ran down to where my daughter was, smiled really big, and then ran back to her mom and dad.

A little while later, the dad carried the daughter back, and her head was resting on his neck. He tapped my daughter on the shoulder and said, "My daughter thinks you’re a real princess and wants to give you a hug." My daughter said yes, and the little girl gave her the biggest hug. It was such a sweet moment that brought everyone in the room to tears and cheers. They took a few pictures, and the little girl waved goodbye with her parents.

What was amazing about that moment was that the little girl just saw a "princess," not a black princess or a white princess, just a princess. Kids don’t have hate in them; they learn it from others.”

APPLICATION: Uncover your eyes, open your heart, light His candle, be smart. He sees everything, and I mean EVERYTHING—the bad and the good. Turn down the rhetoric. Turn up the love. Listen to what you know what children naturally see.