Dark days in his presence

As she was dying, the women helping her said to her, ‘Be brave! You have a son!’ But she paid no attention and did not answer. She named the boy Ichabod, explaining, ‘God’s glory has left Israel’—referring to the capture of the Covenant Box and the death of her father-in-law and her husband. ‘God’s glory has left Israel,’ she said, ‘because God’s Covenant Box has been captured.’ (verses 20-22)

Read 1 Samuel 4:12–22

The three moments in time when our three children were born are stamped into my brain. These are three powerful images of three moments in my short life that took me beyond daily life.

This time, for Eli’s daughter-in-law, there is no experiencing the joy, relief and thankfulness of birth. She is a woman who has had her life radically emptied by three deaths—the death of her father, her husband, and, worst of all, the ‘death’ of God’s presence among his people! This was a dark day.

In your dark days, be assured that you are filled with the grace and forgiveness of the Lord because of three living events. Jesus died, he rose and he was raised to fill the earth and skies with his glorious presence forever. This Jesus now lives and rules the universe and everything in it forever in grace for you.

Jesus Christ, whose glory fills the skies, help me in my dark days to know and live in your gracious presence. Amen.

by Adrian Kitson, in ‘Renewed Hope for each Day’ (LCA, Openbook, 2000)

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