I was thinking about the darkness that seems to surround some of our loved ones so thickly, and our tendency to fear that darkness; and remembered Isa 45:7 ‘I form the light and create darkness, I make peace and create calamity; I, the LORD, do all these things.’  and Psalm 18:11 ‘He made darkness His secret place ; His canopy around Him was dark waters and thick clouds of the skies.’   As I was pondering these things, I begin to laugh at the following picture that came to me.

From my journal:  You formed the light and created the darkness ~ the darkness hides nothing from You; You even make the darkness Your secret place.   You!  You who ARE light use the darkness to get closer to us!  Now I see Graham Cooke’s delight in paradoxes!    You are light.  The darkness has never overpowered You, or put You out, or absorbed You, or appropriated You; it cannot hide You (John 1:4) yet You make it Your secret place…How astounding!!  Talk about messing with the enemy’s head….here’s the enemy taking jewels out of Jesus’ crown, thinking he’s going to hide them in darkness but he’s really putting them in God’s pocket! So the enemy can try to hide and imprison our loved ones in darkness, but the Deliverer is right there…in the midst! The darker it looks, the more we can rejoice in You and the more their path is being dawned upon (Pro 4:18) and in the rejoicing we are calling those things which be not as though they are (Rom 4:17)…acting like Sons and Daughters of our Father!

As I saw this picture of the enemy hiding the jewels in God’s pocket, I could not stop laughing. Such a joy came over me, and a new strength to keep trusting for loved ones. God is good!!