Tuesday, April 20

They kept asking him, “Then how were your eyes opened?” He answered, “The man called Jesus made mud, spread it on my eyes, and said to me, 'Go to Siloam and wash.’ Then I went and washed and received my sight.”
—John 9:15

He had been blind from birth. Always in the dark. Nothing but blackness as his companion. He could only imagine what light would be like. And yet, Jesus didn't just command the light to cleave the darkness. 

He made black mud and placed it on the man's eyes. It was as if another layer of darkness needed to be experienced before the blind man could see a world only dreamed of before.

There are times when life feels as dark and un-navigable as a wilderness at night. When we wander in the darkness with no sense of where to turn, our minds race, our heart feels tight, our soul becomes somber. 

We long for a guiding hand, for the liberation of light. But the darkness presses against us so hard that even prayer can seem an empty activity. It feels as though the only response we get to our pleas is another layer of obscurity.

Yet, surprisingly, sometimes the only path to light is to go deeper into the darkness. Then when the blackness is complete, we are told to get up and head toward the place where the darkness can be driven away. As the soft shafts of light pierce our gloom, our soul looks upward in profound gratitude.

Gracious God, give me the courage to enter even the blackest darkness, knowing you walk there with me.

These Signposts originally appeared on explorefaith in 2008.