Where is God When the Sky Turns Dark?

The crisp leaves swirled on the sidewalk ahead of me. I was bundled up against the chilly 40-something temperature. When the icy wind wasn’t at my back, it stung my face. But without a cloud in sight, the sun shined down radiantly. And it made all the difference.

On the fourth day of creation, God spoke into existence lights in the sky (Genesis 1:14-19). The greater of the “great lights” was our sun. He placed it there “¹⁷to give light on the earth, ¹⁸to govern the day . . . and to separate light from darkness” (v. 17-18).

Though the sun is not stationary—along with our solar system, it orbits the center of our galaxy—within our heliocentric solar system it is relatively fixed in place. As our Earth home rotates, we return day after day to find the sun in the same spot. And it is always shining as the brightest heavenly body we can see. Even when we don’t see it.

The days are glorious when the sun shines brightly on our world. No clouds obscure the light. Its energy often warms us physically. But even if chilly winds blow, the brightness itself seems to warm our soul, wrapping us in comfort. The light illuminates our way, giving clarity to where we’re going and revealing obstacles in our path that could trip us. What a gift from God this “great light” is.

The days are also glorious when we are able to see God clearly, when we are thoroughly aware of his presence. Even if a cold, unexpected wind blows through our life, we are undisturbed because we are basking in the warmth and comfort of his love. His closeness is undeniable, and nothing can diminish our joy. We clearly see his direction for us, and we can side-step any hindrances that spring up.

Totally sun-drenched days can be rare, though. Sometimes the sun plays hide-and-seek among the clouds. We may see it plainly and feel its warmth. Then it goes into hiding. We search longingly for the source of our comfort. Eventually, it reappears from behind a drifting cotton patch. It was there all along, shining even when we couldn’t see it.

We go through times when, even though we know God is there, we can’t always see him at work. We wonder why he hides. Why he seems to have left us to walk alone. At those times, we must recall what we know: He’s always there.  God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you” (Hebrews 13:5). If we go about the work he has given us to do, at some point we will once again sense him walking beside us. Where he’s been all along.

Days of gray skies are unavoidable. We can look up all day long and not see even a hint of light. Not a single glistening-sharp ray will pierce the thick covering enclosing our world. Not one welcome beam will squeeze through the gray to soothe our shivering bones. But on the other side of that gray veil, the sun still shines.

We will have our gray-sky days—those lonely, discouraged, or feeling-lost days when our world is covered with a hazy blanket. Days when we can’t feel the warmth of God’s closeness. If we could just catch one glimpse of him so we know he’s still there. One warm tendril of his breath to whisper encouragement to our chilled soul. This is when we must ignore what we see and trust in what we don’t see. “Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go” (Joshua 1:9). Even when we don’t see him.

The sky can unexpectedly turn black at midday, concealing everything familiar from our eyes. An invisible hand rips open the darkness to drench us with torrents of rain, chilling us to the bone. Jagged spears of light shoot down, striking us with fear. Thunderous booms drown out all other sounds. This is the hardest of all to believe, but, beyond the frightening drama, the sun is still shining brilliantly.

We all will experience crises in our life, times when our world seems to be crashing down around us and we don’t understand what’s happening and we can’t stop it. Times of tragedy that bring unbearable, and seemingly unending, pain. We may not be able to see God, regardless of how hard and long we look. Life goes cold from the downpour of this-is-not-how-life-is-supposed-to-be. Grief, loss, and fear pierce our fragile soul. And we can’t hear the voice of our beloved Abba Father above the pounding of our distraught heart.

This is when we are called to live by faith, believing in what we can’t see or hear or feel. We live by faith, not by sight (2 Corinthians 5:7). David knew that God was present even in the darkest circumstances. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me (Psalm 23:4).

Just as the sun is always in its same place, we can always trust God to be in the same place. And that place is with us. The Lord spoke through the prophet Isaiah, “The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel”—which means, “God with us” (Matthew 1:23). When Jesus came to Earth, he was God walking among us.

Jesus did not want his followers to be without the presence of God when he left Earth. Before his crucifixion and resurrection, he told his disciples, “¹⁶And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever—¹⁷the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you” (John 14:16-17). So when he returned to heaven, the Holy Spirit came to dwell in every person who chooses to believe in Jesus.

Paul confirmed this when he wrote to the believers in Corinth, “Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit lives in you?” (1 Corinthians 3:16).

No matter what the circumstances of life try to tell us, God is always with us. And that makes all the difference.

Scripture quotations are from NIV.

Feature photo by dimitri_c from FreeImages