Treasures of Darkness, by Evelyn Watson

Here is our first Christmas story for December 2012. It is powerful story of spiritual strength during a difficult time. Read, reflect, respond. Do you have a Christmas memory to share? A reflection? A poem? A pondering?  We would love to hear from you!

“I will give you the treasures of darkness”   Isaiah 45:3

It was Christmas 1973. My parents had both died that year during the summer, in June and July. This was my first Christmas without them. Plans were that we would spend that Christmas in Connecticut for the holiday. I wasn’t looking forward to it; in fact my heart was heavy with the idea. To be with Christian friends who had known my parents and who would support me during this devastating time of my life was what I longed for. Without my parents and friends, the approaching holiday loomed with magnifying sorrow. Dwight had no knowledge of the Lord’s involvement in our lives at that time so he was unable to offer me comfort.

Lost in a world of my own, days before the trip I found myself weighed down in sadness. The Lord had given me strength to be more than a conqueror at the time of my parents’ deaths, but now grief was waging war with strength, and I couldn’t fight. As each day approached closer to our departure, my spirit was declining, spiraling downward. I sensed darkness approaching, and relayed my concern to friends and to the Lord. I barely knew Dwight’s relatives but I knew their beliefs were with little or no knowledge of a personal relationship with Jesus. Without Jesus they were in darkness.

On the morning of December 13, I was pouring out my heart to the Lord in the shower. His voice interrupted me: “Read Streams in the Desert.” In my despair I had failed to read my devotional, “Streams in The Desert” for several days. It was a powerful message that sent a surging strength into my weakened spirit. The scripture, “I will give you the treasures of darkness,” with a beautiful story of how God works in the dark immediately lifted my spirit. The message’s last sentence, “God is watching, and He will bring good and beauty out of all your pain and tears,” was answer to my prayer, comforting words in a scripture I had never heard before.

As our plane rolled down the runway for takeoff, the song, “I Left My Heart in San Francisco” played in my head. It still seemed as though I was leaving my heart behind but that thought no longer weighed down. I had courage to go through the holiday knowing God heard me, was with me, and would bring good from this trip.