“And I will give you treasures hidden in the darkness—secret riches. I will do this so you may know that I am the LORD, the God of Israel, the one who calls you by name.”
ISAIAH 45:3
Mike, a father of two young boys, battled colon cancer. His doctors were optimistic and his faith was strong. Nearly three years passed. One treatment after another had failed, and one prayer after another seemed to go unanswered. His voice cracking and tears running down his cheeks, Mike said to his pastor, “I can’t do this anymore. People pray for me. I cry out to God. Nothing changes. My prayers just bounce off the ceiling. I believe, I really do. But where is He?”
Two thousand years earlier, Jesus and His disciples climbed in a boat to cross the Sea of Galilee after a day of ministry. Exhausted, Jesus rested His head on a cushion and fell asleep. While He slept, a fierce storm came up and the high waves began filling the boat with water. Through it all, Jesus slept. Fighting the raging storm, the disciples grew exasperated and finally woke Him by shouting, “Teacher, don’t you care that we’re going to drown?” (Mark 4:37–38).
Sometimes, it feels like God is sleeping through your storm. Or you may be going through a season like Mike where you can’t seem to wake Him at all. You pray and shout, but your storm keeps raging. Your breakthrough doesn’t come. You don’t even know if God is listening. People keep telling you if you seek Him, you will find Him (Deuteronomy 4:29; Jeremiah 29:13; Matthew 7:7; Hebrews 11:6). Well, you’ve been seeking. He is silent, hiding somewhere behind a thick veil. You are waiting for Him to break into your darkness, to save the day, to rescue you. You long to stand with Him in victory on the mountaintop, to be a living, breathing testimony of His healing power. But there is nothing. Nothing but silence. Nothing changes. Nothing happens. Nothing moves forward. You can’t see Him. You can’t feel Him. You can’t hear Him. Your cries grow more desperate. You beg Him to show Himself, to prove He is truly awake.
And while you’re waiting in the darkness, the enemy is relentless in mounting his attack against you. He convinces you that God really doesn’t care. He has surely forgotten you (Psalm 44:24). He has turned His face away from you and rejected you (Psalm 88:14). His anger rages against you (Psalm 89:38–48). And now, His silence is the final punishment (Job 13:24). The veil of doubt and unbelief grows thicker.
But God does care. He hasn’t forgotten you. And He’s not sleeping. He’s still right there with you, even though you can’t feel His power and His presence. He’s hidden in the darkness. Why would He do that? Because He may be teaching you not to depend on your experiences—to walk by faith, not by sight. God wants our knowledge of Him to become real and personal. He wants our head knowledge to become heart knowledge. By hiding, He can gently expose our unbelief and teach us to see through the eyes of faith. We learn to trust His ways, even when we don’t have a clue what He’s doing.
If it feels like God is hiding from you, you might believe the enemy’s lies and fall further into the pit of hopelessness. You can cry out to God to show Himself, to break into the darkness and come to you. Or you can go to Him. God may be saying, “Beloved, come to Me. Come up here. Come higher. You want to make sense of your circumstances in your mind and with your emotions. I love you and I am always with you, but I am not speaking to your soul right now. I want to speak to your spirit. I want you to leave the world and all the drama behind and dwell with Me in your spirit. Come up here and I will show you hidden things that you do not know, the deeper things of My heart” (Jeremiah 33:3).
Meeting God in the spirit realm is an act of will on your part. You may have to fight through the lies of the enemy and the darkness of your soul to reach Him there (Matthew 11:12). But if you can surrender your mind and emotions to Him, He can take you to a place where you are no longer moved by your circumstances because you are seeing through the eyes of faith (Philippians 4:11–12); you are seeing through His eyes. You know He is faithful, regardless of the silence, regardless of the storm raging around you. This is the place of true revelation, where He gives you treasures hidden in the darkness, secret riches, so that you may know the One who calls you by name.
Lord, I cry out to You for healing, but my prayers bounce off the ceiling. Where are You, Lord? Don’t You care what this affliction is doing to me? Have You forgotten me? How much longer will You be silent? I’m desperate for Your presence, Lord. The enemy attacks relentlessly, but a thick veil hides You. I can’t find You in the darkness. Where are You, Lord? Please don’t hide from me (Psalm 27:9)!
Help me to fight through this darkness to find You. My heart has heard You say, “Come and talk with Me.” And my heart responds, “Lord, I am coming!” (Psalm 27:8). I surrender my mind and emotions to You. Speak to my spirit, Lord. Show me the deeper things of Your heart. Help me to see my circumstances through Your eyes, the eyes of faith. Even when I don’t understand Your ways, Lord, I know You are faithful. You give me secret treasures hidden in the darkness.