Trust Amid the Darkness | Bishop Dale C. Bronner | Word of Faith Family Worship Cathedral

this is bishop dale broader thank you so much for joining our youtube channel today if this is a blessing to you i want to encourage you to like it and then click the subscribe button and then turn on notification hit that little notification bell so that you never ever miss another one of our videos and then if you're in the metro atlanta area on a sunday check out one of our exhilarating services at 8 30 a.m 11 a.m or 6 o'clock p.m if you would turn in your bibles isaiah chapter 50 isaiah chapter 50 verse 10 and 11. and you'll notice here the word of the lord who among you fears the lord who obeys the voice of his servant who walks in darkness and has no light let him trust in the name of the lord and rely upon his god look all you who kindle afar who encircle yourselves with sparks walk in the light of your fire and in the sparks you have kindled this you shall have from my hand you shall lie down in torment and i'm going to teach you this session about trust amid the darkness trust amid the darkness what do you do when the lights go out in your life and you can't see what god is doing what do you do when the things that you thought would come to pass didn't come to pass what do you do when you were believing for something and it didn't manifest what do you do when you have had negative situations challenges things that you didn't anticipate nor expect in any way and it leaves you in the dark as to why it happened why why god why you could have prevented this you had the power to stop this you didn't have to let me marry a fool you know uh there there are times that you could be going through something in your personal life and uh you have questions why did my baby die why why why did i get cancer why did i lose my job why am i still single just questions questions why is my child acting this way why is my spouse acting this way why wasn't i chosen for the promotion why am i struggling so bad why is it that every time i look like i take two steps forward i end up taking three steps backward why am i so sick questions about things that challenge us in our life wondering why why why why is this but the truth of the matter is is that god does not tell us everything god doesn't tell us everything he keeps us in the dark about some things and and perhaps it is uh as simple as god sometimes just wanting us to talk to each other so god doesn't tell us everything because sometimes god wants us to learn things the old-fashioned way god has a process and you'll be in the dark about some things as to why this is happening and that's happening why am i dealing with this god where all you have to do is open your mouth you can speak and this will be over you know god has the power to stop it in its track it could you could wake up tomorrow and everything could be totally normal in your life blessed and highly favored no challenges no stress and you wonder sometimes why do i have to deal with the stuff that i deal with what do you do in the midst of all of that what do you do if you notice in second kings chapter 4 verse 27 in the english standard version uh here's the story here of the prophet elijah elisha and when uh when she came to the mountain to the man of god she caught hold of his feet elisha's feet and gaza came and pushed her away but the man of god said leave her alone for she is in bitter distress and the lord has hidden it from me and has not told me now this is the prophet elisha the lord spoke to the prophet elisha about a lot of things i mean he was a seer he could look at people and see things but here the prophet himself says that the lord has hidden this from me he says i see that her soul is in bitter distress but god has not told me what it is he has hidden it from me well why did god have to tell him she had a mouth she's in distress talk to her she'll tell you what's wrong and she did as you know this this was a a child that he had already spoken prophetically about and the child came into manifestation then all of a sudden the child got sick and the child died her prophetic promise died what do you do when god has prophesied something to you and then once the manifestation of it comes it goes bad this was the dilemma with which she found herself and now in distress you know she said you know what i i got to see the man that prophesied this into my life because is this if this is so why why why god would you prophesy a son in my life and now you take him away and there was something on the inside of her that couldn't let it go you know when god gives you some things and it seems to be going bad you can't let it go that's because it won over and god cannot lift the grace to hold on to something when it's not over he'll give you the grace to hold on to something that still looks like his dead and believe against hope and see a miracle happen i mean when you i mean when you really realize the awesomeness of the god that we serve and you you start wondering now is anything too hard for the lord and so this woman goes and and throws herself and grabs hold of the feet of the man of god and says you you've got to come and you know the story he went and and it was a dead situation the boy was dead and he went there and stretched himself out over the child and and the long story short the child came back to life it might look like it but i'm telling you when god's got his hands in it it's never too late even when it looks like it's finished god's plan and his destiny for your life has gone to be fulfilled i don't care how much delay i don't care how sick it is it can be an intensive care it could have flatlined but the same one that gave the beeps on it can cause it to beep again and he can take things that have died in you and cause them to live again and this is he but he goes to the to the prophet and the point of the matter is the prophet is a seer but he couldn't see everything for scripture tells us we already know this from first corinthians 13 for we know in part and we prophesy in in part that means that god says i'm not going to show you the whole thing i'm not going to show you the whole thing if you live long enough i declare to you that there will be something that will hit you by the blind side by the blind side that you didn't see coming your way and what do you do what do you do when something unexpected happens in your life here i am on a sunday morning and and my brother drops dead of a blood clot at 38 years old it hit us on the blind side on the blind side i'm prophetic but god didn't show it to me he didn't show it to my mother there are some things that that he wouldn't he won't even show you there's a certain thing that god doesn't intend to stop and he he won't show you because if he showed it you're going to you're going to get in the way and there's something that god will hide from you you don't always know why he hides it there's some stuff that if he showed you you couldn't handle it anyway you would start stressing it would mess your day up your night up isn't it amazing how you you know you can be feeling fine you go to the doctor and then they tell you something you were fine before he told you that whatever they tell you you know i mean you were fine you were fine before you got the news and and then they give they deliver something to you and all of a sudden it it makes you feel a certain way i'm i'm convinced that god keeps us in the dark about some things for our own protection because he's he's saying to us i'm going to work this out and if i tell you this if i show this to you you're going to be up all night you're going to stress you're not going to be able to eat or either you're going to overeat you know we people deal with stress you got somebody stressed on this end and they can't eat anything and this one on the other end is eating everything but it's just a different response to how they handle stress but god won't show you everything what do you do when you're in a dark spell in your life what do you do what do you do i i i know that this is a divine prophetic message to some individuals that are in here uh because over the course of this week i plan to teach something else this week and uh i was awakened at 3 30 eight in the morning and and i i uh it's i heard i was awakened by something that sounded like a doorbell and then my mind said that's not how my doorbell sign sounds and i realize it was another bell it was another bell in the spirit and there are some of you all who are in a blind area of your life right now you're in darkness and you're wondering what in the world is is going on here now what's what am i supposed to do lord with this how do you fight an enemy that you cannot even see that you don't even know how to identify you don't even understand why this is happening i don't know who i'm talking to but all that i do know is that there is a word in the house tonight you're here on a good night or you ought to touch somebody and tell them you're here on a good night you're here on a good night the lord sees you she hears you he feels your pain your isolation your loneliness your confusion your frustration he knows you and his word to you that even though you walk through the valley of the shadow where there is darkness and the sun is hiding its face from you what do you do in a time like that what do you do what do you do what do you do what do you do it's not going to show you everything he's not going to show you everything he doesn't show us everything perhaps the bottom has fallen out of your life and you just don't know why but just because you're right with god doesn't mean that you'll always have the answers just because you're right with god doesn't mean that you'll always have the answers there's something that god will hide from you just to see can you trust me do i have to tell you everything in order for you to trust me can you trust me to take a walk if i don't tell you where we're going can you trust me if i tell you to go somewhere and i don't tell you how long it's going to take to get there can you trust me can you trust me can you believe that my plans for you are better than anything that you could work out and arrange for yourself do you really believe do you really believe that god's way is better do you really believe it but i want you to know that there's certain things that god shares with us there's a certain thing that he hides he keeps some things in the dark for his own purposes some things that we may not know until we get to glory as to why it happened and why it happened when it happened and how it happened because i know we go through things and it's like after we get through it you know we're like lord you didn't have to go down like that and uh you know how many of you all realize that there have been some times that god has missed some marvelous opportunities to show up early and surprise you and then the other time that he just lets you just tough it out and you go through this this long waiting time but deuteronomy chapter 29 verse 29 the english sander version says that the secret things belong to the lord our god but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever that we may do all the words of this law there are certain things that god has as secret things they belong to god but the things that are revealed they not only belong to us they belong to our children forever they belong to our children and what god reveals to you as the strength as the deliverer when god comes through for you how do you help another generation to know god in that way how do you take the blessing that has come on on their life and let it fall on on another generation the one that has come on yours how do you how do you pass the blessing how do you pass the blessing but if if you've been plunged into darkness don't doubt what god has shown you in the light if you've ever been plunged into the darkness don't doubt what god has shown you in the light remember that his promises just remember his promises and remember his love for you because if you want to feel god's presence in your heart you fix your mind on his promises if you want to feel god's peace in your heart if you really want to feel god's peace in your heart fix your mind on his promises it is impossible it's impossible to be focused on the promises of god and then lack peace your peace comes by trusting in the promises of god what has god told you has he spoken something in his word concerning your situation uh whenever you're you're wondering about something i mean if you really need to feel god's peace in your heart fix your mind on his promises fix your mind on his promises when you fix your mind focus and set and establish your mind on the promises of god peace floods your heart peace floods your heart if peace leaves your heart it is because your mind is focused on the problem and not the promise it's focused on the problem and not the promise and the first step to getting what you want is having the courage to get rid of what you don't want sometimes it takes a courage to get rid of what you don't want it really does take a courage that comes from god and and never allow your circumstances to cause you to doubt god's unconditional unfathomable love for you don't ever let your circumstances your circumstances i know it's hard don't ever let your circumstances i know it feels like it'll last forever but don't ever allow your circumstances to cause you to doubt god's unconditional unfathomable love for you there is an unconditional love there's an unfathomable love even when you're by yourself even when you're crying yourself to sleep don't ever doubt god's love for you based on your circumstances or your conditions of your life don't let that come in and destroy you just pour your heart out to him and you ask god for strength to be able to rely upon him even when you don't have the answers to the whys and you don't have to have all of the answers to the whys and the hows in order to be able to rely on god to rely means to put your full trust and confidence in you sat down in the chairs that you're seated because you were relying on them to be able to sustain your weight and you would have sat down very gingerly if if you didn't have full reliance that the seat was going to be able to hold you because the last thing that you want to do is to come in to sit on a seat and break down and fall down in front of other people you don't want to do that in front of people of color they will laugh at you and then they will take their cell phones out and you will be on social media so when we sat down we had a reliance upon the seat upon which we were sitting we were putting our confidence and isn't it crazy for us to put greater confidence in a man-made thing i have seen chairs collapse you don't know the bishop i've been i've been a lot of places i've seen chairs collapse we were in a service we had a row of big people the whole bench fell the whole bench the whole pube was on the floor the bishop had to compose himself the whole bench and the whole row of people collapsed all at once and they just kept looking they just they were they were sitting on the floor just but it's interesting don't ever put greater reliance on something man-made because i've told you if it's man-made it will fail it's just a matter of time if it's man-made it will fail automobile refrigerator air-conditioning your alternator generated in your car if it's man-made it will it will fail at some point if his man-made it will fail but you have to trust his heart trust god's heart when you can't trace his hand you can't trace the hand of god to know what he's doing and where he is trust his heart trust his heart that he loves you unconditionally his love for you is unfathomable it is beyond our ability to comprehend it trust his heart trust him put your full reliance upon him and just realize that even when you're doing something if you're trusting god god has a way of even being able to override our foolishness he really does and some of our bad decisions god can override that you know proverbs 16 9 that a man's heart plans his way but the lord directs his steps that's sometime that god just he blocks stuff for us and you know there's some people that are persistent and he'll let you you know you get ready to be getting ready to get in your car and go off and sing and fornicate and carry on you get in the car the car won't start and now what you do you uber over there [Laughter] see there are some determined sinners you know some of them they they're going to find a way they're going to have today and they'll be on a phone call you have to come and pick me if you want this you're going to have to pick me up you all know i'm telling you the truth and sometimes we we just we don't know what's going on we don't even understand why we don't understand why so long why so hard why so intense you know they're different people that are built to handle rough roads and you wonder lord why do i have to have it so hard and then you look at some other people you know people are different they're made out of different materials they have different endurance in things there's some stuff that god can trust you to go through that'll snap this one's mine and so god knows he knows how you are built and what what you can sustain sometimes the the equipment of how well you're built is based on the destiny it's based on the destiny you know when you have a car in alaska the car is alaska has to be built differently than cars on the on the main mainland usa it gets so cold there that your your motor oil would freeze over you have to have different kinds of things uh uh available there to keep the car from locking up that we don't have issues with here you have to have special tires if you live in a certain part of the country to even get around and you need a four-wheel instead a four-wheel drive instead of a just a two-wheel drive so sometimes how you are built speaks of the destiny is where you're designed to go there are some people that are born with thick skin you know i mean that figuratively well maybe literally too i mean i you know [Laughter] but based on where you're gonna have to go if you get ready to do something you got to do something with a whole lot of people you're not going to be able to please everybody and you're going to have to have thick skin for people to talk about you and criticize you and you're going to have to be in a place where you can you're okay with that and then i know some other people that if if somebody didn't say good morning to you you you you go into deep intercession and you you got to you're feeling rejection and sucking your thumb for three days and you but because so and so didn't like you and it's like the person with the thick skin is like okay next and they drinking that coffee and eating that donut and moving right along and and they didn't have another thought about it and the other one would haunt the person all day long well i wonder what did i do to carol i mean i just i mean i just came in and you know it's like she just gave me this look and it's like she was just treating me like trash and i i didn't even do anything to her and but how you're built is is determining something about your your destiny it speaks something about your destiny but i do want you to know that god can use circumstances for his purpose he can use circumstances but take comfort in knowing that no problem lasts forever no problem lasts forever no problem last forever no problem last forever everything must change seasons change if you don't like the winter hang on if you don't like the heat of the summer hang on seasons change and sometimes god's seasons for what he was using to do in a certain place comes to an end certain seasons in your life of something that god was doing it it'll have it'll come to an end it's not because it was right or wrong but it it just came to the end of that season you can't do stuff forever that's why you got to run while you're in your season you got to have your babies while you're in the season to have babies you don't want to be grandma trying to have a baby even if you birth in your back is going to go out trying to get up in the night and nurse it you know there's a reason there's a reason that god put that in young women to be able to bear children and be 68 years old trying to i mean we can do some stuff with medication now you know they can give you hormones and turn a woman's cycle back on but just because they can doesn't mean you should your mama 72 at the pta meeting [Applause] in the elementary school but isn't it amazing that sometimes that god will he'll let a season in your life end and it didn't it didn't mean that that you did anything wrong it's simply that the season changed and have you ever thought about this that how you have to trust god amid the darkness because when it's dark when it is dark on one side of the earth it's light on the other side and it's it's a reminder to you if you just hang on if you just make it through the night morning is coming morning is coming the season is going to change this thing it's not going to last like this forever it cannot there's light on the other side of this thing it is turning it is turning it's turning it might be turning slowly you may not be able to feel it turning you may not be able to see it turning but it is turning whether you see it or feel it or not it is turning it's turning it's turning it's turning and there's light on the other side if you're on the dark side right now it's light on the other side and the light is headed your way tell somebody the light is headed your way the light is headed your way i mean the darkness itself is proof that the light is coming the darkness is proof that the light is coming it's proof that the light is coming you remember after god uh rejected saul from reigning over israel the prophet samuel mourned for him so long but if his season was up his season was up he had violated some stuff and god says no more you have disqualified yourself you are out of there and you know and samuel because he was the one that anointed them and all of that and put them in place he's mourning for him and god spoke to him in first samuel 16 1 he says how long will you mourn for saul seeing that i have rejected him from reigning over israel fill your horn with oil and go i'm sending you to jesse to bethlehemite for i have provided myself a king among his son and listen as god's people we sometimes just have to pass through darkness you can't see ahead nothing makes sense you just have to pass through the darkness and sometimes you just have to let the darkness do what it's going to do it's just going to be night even if you do turn on a light it's still going to be night it's still going to be night and just when you thought that you had everything figured out about your life something happened that you didn't have a plan for you're thrown into perplexity and despair the whole world is dark around you everybody when during this time everybody else gets a word from god except you isn't that amazing you go to a place in english sits right there and then they'll be pointing at you and then they say no no not you the lady behind you [Laughter] isn't that interesting i want you to notice again what isaiah 50 chapter 15 verse 10 says because it can lift you from your despair who among you fears the lord who obeys the voice of his servant who walks in darkness and has no light who walks in darkness and has no light and then notice what it tells you to do let him trust let her trust in the name of the lord and rely upon his god trust in the name of the lord and rely put your trust fully upon god whoever walks in darkness and has no light let him trust in the name of the lord and rely upon his god if you're in darkness and you're going through a season where you don't understand what in the world you're supposed to do let him trust in the name of the lord let her trust in the name of the lord and rely upon his or her god now when you think that anyone who fears the lord and obeys the voice of the holy spirit will automatically be walking in the light but you can be walking in obedience to the word of god and darkness can you walk in a season of darkness and it was nothing that you did that's the surprise faithful people must sometimes walk in darkness faithful people must sometimes walk in darkness faithful people you just think that that's just for wicked people and folks that's you know whose lives are terribly insane no no faithful people will sometimes must sometimes walk in darkness those of greatest devotion sometimes may know some of the deepest darkness you'll be surprised and some people have the naive idea in thinking that once you become a christian everything is going to be joy and light and sweetness and roses but it doesn't generally happen that way it's not that you get saved and you live happily ever after you may live happily ever after but there's a whole lot of detail that they leave out you know countless saints fear god and they obey god and they walk in darkness this was true of uh of many of the greats in the bible i mean job habakkuk john the baptist the apostle paul they they loved god they feared god they walked upright but they walked through seasons or periods of darkness in their life and let me just say this to you faith born in the light is often developed in the dark faith that is born in the light is often developed in the dark it's developed in the dark it's the same way with how old school photography you know we've got millennials and they they don't know anything about old school photography where you have to go to a kodak booth some of you all are old enough to understand about the kodak booth and you you get to film and you know you you couldn't see anything instant we had one little esthetic little polaroid kind of thing that'll pop a thing out and you'd be fanning and waiting you know but in the old the old-fashioned way you know you see the beautiful picture that's in in the light but it didn't start that way you snapped the picture in light you snapped a picture and then the negative the negative was taken into a dark room you wonder what in the world can god do with the negative in your life let him take it in the dark room let him take it in the dark then they add some chemicals to it he's got it in the dark room with some chemicals called the blood and then they would hang it up and let it dry and when they would bring it out after it had gone through the chemical and the process then this picture in living color would emerge and it would be something that would be beautiful and memorable but god took it it all started from a negative the image was captured on what was called a negative and from the negative was brought a beautiful picture in living color i'm just telling you god is up to something god is up to something i know everybody got some stuff in the closet in their back in the room in the boot in the back in the corner in the dark but god's got a plan for all of that stuff for for the the negative the stuff that you don't want to hit the light because it's ruined if you are ruined if light hits your negative you don't want the light to hit the negative you you just you better keep the cap on that don't don't open that up until it's taken see the the safe place if you got secrets the safe place is in darkness to open it you don't want to be out and uh with your negative and then cnn and fox and abc and cbs and nbc is sitting there with a camera and a light in your face saying explain this that's the time you want whatever negative that you have to be taken in a dark room you want the chemicals that come from heaven to come on it and then when people you want the miracle of what god will have done in your life and taking the negative and making you something beautiful in living color you want to to be so glorious that if you were to share your testimony and tell people how negative you were when they look at the beauty of who you are now they'll never believe that you were as low as what you said that you were they don't even believe your testimony because god covers you in the darkness that's the purpose of the darkness god does have a purpose in all of it and just think about it when have you grown the most spiritually when have you grown the most spiritually you don't grow the most spiritually when you living on top of the world blessed and highly favored and your money is just coming in you know what everything is going well on the job that's you know the spouse is doing well the children are doing well that's not the time that you grow the most spiritually you grow them all spiritually amid difficulty despair heartache tears so god when he has to take you through a dark period that's the place that you develop sometimes you don't even realize but your destiny can be discovered in darkness it's when you went through a dark tunnel a dry spell in your life you didn't even understand what was happening but god was up to something isn't it amazing that when god wants you to drink of the water of life that he makes you really thirsty no wonder he said to us you are the salt of the earth see you can lead a horse to water but you can't make him drink but if you've got enough salt around him he'll get thirsty and he'll drink on his own and god has a way of of turning the light off to the degree that it makes us start craving the light while we're in the darkness there are times that unless you've been in the darkness you don't appreciate the light it's not until your air conditioning goes out that you appreciate it it's not until the wintertime when until your heat goes out see you take it for granted when it's cold outside and your furnace is working fine on the inside you take that furnace for granted until one day it's not working or they've turned your your gas off you can tell the children what you want to tell them but but isn't it interesting that that's the thing that's where you really get developed is in those places of darkness uh and and and and there's something that that god has there for you it really is you you're really designed to be like a uh like a solar light you draw strength and power you draw charge from being in the light you walk in the light as he is in the light you get this solar energy it energizes you and it gives you the power to be able to go through the darkness who needs lights on when the sun is out at high noon light needs to be turned on you turn on a lamp when it's dark if there's enough natural light coming into the room you don't need to turn on a light light only has significance amid darkness when he's his word is a light until our feet and a lamp unto our pathway you know why that happens it's because we live in a dark world and god is a a light to our feet to show us right where we are and to show us the path upon which we are going and so some things are seen in the dark that cannot be seen in the light remember the stars are out there in the daytime you just can't see them until god turns the lights off and then darkness comes over the earth but then god unveils the universe for us so we have to realize that there are some things that you will never even see sometimes god allows you to go through darkness so that you discover who your real friends and your true enemies are because there are certain creatures low lifes there are some nocturnal demonic individuals that don't even come out until this night they are nocturnal creatures frogs start croaking crickets start rubbing themselves and making their noise roaches come out and embarrass you just keep looking forward we won't we won't isn't it amazing that some of these things never happen until the darkness and sometimes you think that you can discover who people are in the in the light but you don't know who some people are until you're in the dark i remember when i was in school and sometimes you know uh a few times you know the power would go out and and people that that classroom would sometimes turn into a zoo you don't know who the freaks are until the lights go out no i'm just serious there were certain revelations isn't it amazing that god turned the light off before you know people started doing some crazy stuff i was doing a research paper when i was in school uh on some mental illness so i had to go out to georgia regional and of all of the times i got out to georgia region and a storm is going on i'm in there with lunatics thank god i was in the counselor's office at this point i was interviewing one of the counselors and uh and the power went off we were in a storm those individuals in there start bamming themselves ramming up against the wall and making noises like something out of over in africa in this safari at night time it was the most horrifying experience of my life i'm sitting in there and i'm like i'm locked in an inside office there are no windows it's jet black i didn't have a cell phone back during that time and you know you could have turned your cell phone on and i had i had a light i wouldn't wanted to go out into that i mean i had walked by these people when the light was on and i saw people in straight jackets and padded rooms and stuff like that you know what i'm in one of the worst places i was doing deep research and i wanted to you know i want to just understand where where the people were and i didn't want it that personal to where i was locked in and i couldn't see them but a different nature came out of all of these folks when the power went out and that place went i mean it was so black i couldn't see my hand in front of my face and thank god i didn't want to see anything but because of the intensity of the sounds that they were making i mean it was something like i i can't even describe it it was something like in a movie it was just it was off the chain and uh and i just had to sit still i was in a place where i had to trust him the counselor was scared to death he couldn't get out either he was scared i mean even if he could fumble around and find his keys you know where are you going you know they're out there [Laughter] i mean it was i felt like i was in one of those movies of the living dead or you know the the zombies whatever because they were like disembodied souls out there you know so i began to pray i said lord this is not the time for this this is not the time this is not the time and i am not the one i talk you know you know when you're a friend of god but i did i told him i said lord i am not the one i'm not the one but i'm telling you when you when you get in a in a difficult place like that the instinct of my prayer that's why you came that's why you can't wait do you get in trouble to try to pray oh my god i'm just telling you you're gonna have some foundation i mean because you know you'll get into some situations where life will scare the daylights out of you and you got to be on autopilot this thing it's got to be a re prayer has got to be a reflex it's got to be a reflex and i'm telling you when i heard all of that demonic sound around me i began to call on the name of the lord you know because and i wasn't doing it for the counsel i was doing it for me i was just i was just doing it for me but it was one of the most horrific experiences of my life trapped in the darkness with lunatics lunatics and they were climbing the wall and doing all kind of crazy stuff and i and nobody had any weapons stun guns medication but i didn't know that they were that bad until the lights went out and there are some things you don't know who people are till you lose your job to when you can no longer do for them what you've been doing and you can no longer put out what you've been putting out or bring in what you've been bringing in and all of a sudden now you see who your real friends are you see who loves you for you or for what you can do for them and so sometimes god will turn the lights out to show you a different side of a nature of humanity that you couldn't see in the light because there's certain things that never manifest while it's light but in the dark they are nocturnal they are nocturnal and that's when you'll see them come out my brother and i were down in in uh we were out of the country and we we were all me and all of our brothers were going uh out of the boats to do this bioluminescent tour and we were in these canoes and you know my brother he zagged and i zigged and our boat capsized and we're out in swampland and it's totally black out there it's black as a thousand midnights and millions upon millions of micro bioluminescent organisms are in the water they light up you know just like a lightning bug it's the same material the lightning bugs were there in the water and i'm in there with all my clothes on in the water and and i started to take my cell phone because i said you know what we're not going to get in the water and something said leave your cell phone i left my cell phone in the car and here we are out there put all of our clothes on and me and my brother fully immersed baptized in all around us i mean you know and you can't even see that these they are bioluminescent microorganisms until you have movement in the water so when we do that the ocean floor lights up and i'm like excuse me but there are certain things i i was not intimidated by that i found it as a place of beauty and serenity for some reason i was in darkness and they provided light and the light brought no fear it brought calm it is amazing how at night time blackness can cover everything but there is direction that's given by a lighthouse that sends out its light to the ships and it can direct people who are in darkness you see the church is a lighthouse it should be a lighthouse but we can't blend in with so much darkness that we have put our light on you see that the thing that really lights that it's like it's it's an incense it's an incense of prayer this is a lighthouse that there ought to be people that are lost and they ought to be able to see their way in find their way and come back into the into the into the right way they ought to be able to look at something and it reminds them this is the way to walk in it this is the way walk in it to where it becomes a lighthouse to the generation and you know the day has but but one eye but the night has a thousand it's amazing you may not be able to see anything but there's something that sees you there's something that sees you even when the lights go out but i will just say to you that it is better for you to lean on god in the darkness than to stand in man-made light it's better for you to lean on god in the darkness than to stand in man-made light you see because when god allows darkness to overshadow your light don't light your own fire don't try to light your own fire notice verse 11 isaiah chapter 50 verse 11 it says look all of you who kindle a fire who encircle yourselves with sparks walk in the light of your fire and in the sparks that you've kindled he says this you shall know from my hand he says but you shall lie down in torment when you try to do it your way you're gonna you you in darkness and you're gonna try to turn on the light and fix this yourself he says you'll lie down in torment the end of that you will lie down in torment when you try to create your own light when god really wants you to trust him you will lie down in sorrow you'll lie down in sorrow notice proverbs chapter 3 verse 5 and 6 trust in the lord with all your heart lean not to your own understanding in all of your ways acknowledge him and he shall direct your path don't try to light your own way acknowledge him said god i'm at your mercy i need you i need you to direct me and if you fear god and obey god and the darkness overtakes you then that means that darkness has been ordained by god if you fear god and you walk with god and darkness overtakes you it means that that darkness has been ordained by god god said it isaiah chapter 50 verse 3 i clothe the heavens with blackness and i make sackcloth they're covering god says i'm the one i do this i i do this and listen if you sin and you struggle against god's plan the light that you find will be fickle and unreliable it really will and when god is simply looking for trust from your heart nothing else will do when he's simply looking for trust from your heart nothing else will do he's just looking and he's saying in the midst of that darkness are you going to try to figure your own way out of this situation or are you going to trust me let me remind you that if your sun has set it will rise again if your son has said it will rise again you know why because darkness always has an expiration date and it will not last forever darkness always has an expiration date it always has an expiration date unless you've gone through the the great throne judgment and then you're cast into utter darkness forever and forever but otherwise darkness has an expiration date it will not last forever remember weeping may endure for a night see morning is on its way it is on its way it's on its way you know what you can do sometimes you have to sometimes even if you if you're waiting on morning and you you want morning to hurry up there's only one way that i know to speed morning up in your life in a figurative sense it's where you awaken the dawn the bible tells us about it psalm chapter 57 verse 7 and 8. it says my heart is steadfast oh god my heart is steadfast i will sing and give praise and it says awake my glory awake loot and harp i will awaken the dawn he's saying that my praise will waken the dawn when you begin to praise god even in the midst of the darkness it will summon the dawn to come earlier than what it it should have been you're gonna have a person that's locked up and i'm just telling you remember at midnight it was dark paul and silas prayed and sang praises under god god heard them isn't it amazing that while he's praising and and remember the earth is his footstool and i believe that they were praising one of them good upbeat kind of tunes and god just started tapping his foot and the next thing you know they have an earthquake and and the prison was shaken and everybody's bands were loose and the doors flung open you see they they summoned the dawn it was midnight remember it was midnight god sped up the time of their release because of their praise their praise got them unbound their praise summon the dark darkness you don't have to wait until it's light and you understand everything god is worthy even in the darkness he's worthy to be praised he's worthy to be honored and celebrated he's worthy he is so incredibly worthy i just want you to remember in isaiah 45 3 remember i will give you the treasures of darkness the hidden riches of secret places why so that you may know that i the lord who call you by your name am the god of israel because listen i've got some secret stuff that i want to give you and you know what treasure can be different things treasure can be people sometimes people are a treasure to you you know have you ever heard a person just say you're just a jewel that they're a treasure people are a treasure people are a treasure ideas are treasure god will give you the changes i'll give you the treasure i'll give you ideas uh strategies are a treasure i'll give you a strategy knowledge is a treasure wisdom is a treasure grace is a treasure mercy is a treasure god says that i will give you the treasures of darkness there's some stuff that's hidden in dark places you can't see it but it's hidden for you it is hidden for you and sometimes the treasure of darkness are actually things that the secular world has that can be valuable to god's purposes there are things that the secular world has that can be valuable to god's purpose you see remember luke chapter 16 and verse 8 it says for the children of this world are in their generation wiser than the children of life isn't that amazing the children of this generation the children of the world they are wiser they're wiser than the children of life speaking of us the church remember that uh moses he was educated in egypt the wisdom of egypt and he took the treasure of that darkness with him he took that treasure he took that treasure and i don't know about you but many of my greatest revelations have come to be in the darkness of night because god doesn't wait until morning to start working in your life he works while it's dark don't assume that because you can't see god that he's not working it's a bad assumption don't assume that because you can't see god or see anything that god is not working god's working on hearts of people that you can't even see right now they don't even have to be in your proximity and god will be dealing with them god god will have you on somebody's mind you don't even understand that somebody'll be considering you for promotion and you won't even know it i'm just telling you god's working even when you can't see it in the creation story of genesis in the creation story of genesis remember the evening and the morning were the first day genesis 1 5 and then the evening and the morning were the second day genesis chapter 1 verse 8 and the evening and the morning were the third day verse 13 and the evening and the morning were the fourth day verse 19 and the evening and the morning were the fifth day verse 23 and the evening and the morning were the sixth day verse 31 it was amazing that god starts his day in the evening time when it is dark and then in the morning when the light comes see it's very specific we say morning and evening but no no god's day begins in the evening when it's dark he takes the night shift and then in the morning that's why every morning his mercies are made new every morning because he's been working all night long he's been working when you couldn't see him working he's been dealing with some things even when you couldn't see it because the evening and the morning are the first day god's day begins the first part of god's day is when you can't even see as he is forming something in the belly that you cannot see and then it's birthed out into the light god will give you an idea in the middle of the night god will begin to disturb your spirit and let you know that you need to intercede because you can't even see it but god sees it he's working you wonder why so many times you're going through something and you get disturbed in the middle of the night do you realize that not only does god work at that time the demons come out demons get really active around two or three o'clock in the morning all kinds of demonic stuff start happening but i'm just telling you in the in in the economy of god's timing god's day specifically begins in the evening and then the morning he's going to show you in the morning what he's been working on in the evening it's a dark period when you cannot see god well you can't trace him well you didn't even understand that god was working on your behalf but god's working in the midst of your darkness don't assume that because you're confused and afraid that god's not doing anything and don't assume that because you're asleep the things are in the same condition that they were when you went to sleep god's working even when you don't understand it he'll be he'll put a dream in somebody he'll let somebody get shaken up over here i mean i've seen him when people have been praying for their children and he'll let them have a traumatic experience they'll be held at gunpoint and their life will turn around they'll have a terrible accident and they saw their life flash before them but came out of that situation without a scratch on them i wonder why because somebody was was praying while it was in the evening in the evening and then the morning it was the first part of god's day where god says i start my work when you get ready to go to sleep he who never slumbers nor sleeps there's a reason you think that he's just twiddling his thumb god says no no that's the beginning of my day it is in the darkness when you can't understand what i'm doing when i'm moving on your behalf when things begin to work in your favor and applications get approved and you wonder i didn't know that my credit was this good you maybe you didn't know and you got jobs that you shouldn't have qualified for and blessing isn't it amazing you could have been been in sin and god still bless you in spite of you because he is good and we honor him and we celebrate him and we give god the glory for who he is but i'm just here to remind you trust him amid the darkness trust him amid the darkness when you are in that situation and you can't see anything that's going on trust god amid the darkness that's happening in your life trust him trust him trust him because there's a treasure of darkness it's like a little a grain of sand that enters into an oyster and it causes that oyster to start secreting hormones those hormones actually then form the pearl you don't get the beauty of a string of pearls until an irritant enters in your life and it happens not in the in the light of day it happens in a clam in a shell sealed in darkness that god forms a pearl over something that entered into your life and irritated you and isn't it amazing that it is not until the irritant comes in that you start secreting stuff that you couldn't even produce music sketches ideas books designs businesses i mean god will start yo there's certain creative juices that don't even start flowing in you until you get irritated or provoked some i don't know who i'm talking to in this house tonight but i don't want you to just be frustrated i want you to let that thing start stirring your creative juices because god's got some treasure he's got some ideas he's got some strategy he's got some wisdom he's got some plans he's got some ideas for you that's going to revolutionize your life take your life to the next level that's something that god has he's working on some things even when you don't understand it and even when you don't understand god why why why was this happening why is this taking so long why why did it happen so much earlier for this person and i'm this age and it still hasn't happened for me yet do you ever notice that all of the women in scripture who were young women and had babies there's nothing special about that but when sarah and elizabeth see they made history we know their names are 730 unnamed women in scripture but we know sarah we know elizabeth because both of these women had babies after the change of life they were way on the other side what other people laughed at them because they said i i'm you with your you can have and if you do have a baby they don't think you had any that you're going to be dried up but god has a plan god has a plan don't ever count him out don't ever think that it's too late trust him amid the darkness trust him amid the darkness trust god amid the darkness just trust him trust him trust him trust him amid the darkness trust him amid the darkness we hope that you enjoyed that message don't forget to like and subscribe and then press the notification bell so that you don't miss another one of our videos and if you want to partner with us click the give now button thank you for what you do

Channel: woffamily

Views: 130,033

Rating: 4.8583841 out of 5

Keywords: Bishop Dale C. Bronner, Word of Faith Family Worship Cathedral, Church, Sermon, Encouragement, Hope, Message

Id: w_ttSTnFY8c

Length: 63min 23sec (3803 seconds)

Published: Wed Jun 17 2020