*In the picture on the left from a year ago:
Left: Idea I saw online.
Middle: I stumbled across this at a thrift store.
Right: The finished product. I’m giddy with how it turned out. It hangs in the backyard, and is so pretty at night.
*In the picture on the right, taken just last night:
Still shining beautifully a year later, despite being completely exposed to the elements. Seasons, storms, and winds have not been able to dim its radiance.
These are solar lights, by the way, so the darkness not only 𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐬 the light, it 𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐲𝐳𝐞𝐬 it, causing it nightly to awaken from its slumber with 𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐰𝐞𝐝 brilliance.
The parallels in our lives are unmistakable. There are things of beauty that will 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐲 be seen in the dark. There is beauty and purpose and significance waiting to be revealed that we 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐧𝐨𝐭 know, absent the dark periods we encounter.
Seasons stretch on and storms rage. We grow weary exposed to the things that buffet us, and we lament the darkness, but, know this: We would would shine less brightly without it.
Take it from one who has known more darkness than I knew life could hold—your nights are not sent to destroy you, but to 𝐞𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐨𝐲 you. Your darkness, which is not without design, is preparing illumination more radiant than you can now begin to imagine. Your time there is 𝐩𝐢𝐯𝐨𝐭𝐚𝐥, not punitive, and you will look back and see that not a 𝐦𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 in the dark was wasted.
So, 𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐛𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐥𝐲, dear friends. You 𝐧𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 dwell in the dark alone or without purpose. God’s presence accompanies you there, serving 𝐬𝐨𝐥𝐞𝐥𝐲 to make you more glorious in His hand, more mindful of His power, and more effective for His Kingdom.
“And the light shineth in darkness and the darkness has not overcome it.”
~ 𝐉𝐨𝐡𝐧 𝟏:𝟓
“I’ve mentioned pain’s propensity to leave us myopic. The pupil dilates in darkness and in the end finds light, just as the soul dilates in misfortune and in the end finds God.”
~ 𝐕𝐢𝐜𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐇𝐮𝐠𝐨