After encountering Jesus, one of the major insights which I have gained in my walk with Him is the inexplicable aura of protection and safety which are embedded in His presence. As David proclaimed in the Psalms: “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.” (Psalms 23:4).
In the walk of faith with God, I have seen a lot of days and nights which I thought I would not be able to survive, but the belief which I have in Jesus kept me alive. At some point, it felt like the darkness would not come to an end, as it was so real and critical. A few weeks and months in the early period of our church plant in Lancaster, the Dynasty Church, I found it really difficult sleeping, as a lot of thoughts and questions flashed through my mind consecutively for nights and this actually affected the church plant project.
A few of these questions were; “how are we going to start relating with our neighbours and making friends in the community?”. “What experience do we have to manage these relationships when they start building up?” How do we even generate resources for the church plant? One night as I was before God meditating, The Holy Spirit ministered to me in Isaiah 40:10-11; “Behold, the Lord God shall come with a strong hand, And His arm shall rule for Him; Behold, His reward is with Him, And His work before Him. He will feed His flock like a shepherd; He will gather the lambs with His arm, And carry them in His bosom; And gently lead those who are with young”. This was the light we needed at that time and when I shared these words with our church plant team and our prayer partners, we all experienced a deep sense of peace. The project progressed in an amazing way, giving birth to some community relational missions within the city of Lancaster.
The Egyptians were plagued by the Lord with darkness, and there was light in the camp of the Israelites. The Lord assured Moses of His hand upon him and promised to plague the Egyptians so heavily that Pharaoh would know that He is the God of Israel. After a series of plagues on the land of Egypt, the Lord called Moses and commanded him to stretch his hand to heaven:
“And the Lord said unto Moses, Stretch out thine hand toward heaven, that there may be darkness over the land of Egypt, even darkness which may be felt. And Moses stretched forth his hand toward heaven; and there was a thick darkness in all the land of Egypt three days: They saw not one another, neither rose any from his place for three days: but all the children of Israel had light in their dwellings.” (Exodus 10:21-23).
The only requirement to operating under the supernatural light of God in this world of is obedience to His commands. Moses lifted his hands to the heaven, as instructed by the Lord and there came a demarcation between the dwellings of the Egyptians and the Israelites. There was light in the camp of the Israelites and darkness covered the abode of the Egyptians. The significance of this is that you can succeed and prosper in any land, regardless of the atmospheric, economic, or political condition. As the Lord was light to His people, He will be your light, and your case will be entirely different from everyone else as long as you remain as a branch and bear the fruits of the spirit.
The question is how can I abide in Him and live a victorious life even in this world that is centred on indignant sequential activities? It only takes an understanding of the magnitude of what grace in Christ Jesus is capable of doing to a man. Timothy Keller is of the opinion that all of us have been born into the sinful body and our mental, spiritual and physical personalities have been buried into this nature, but now, the free grace is available to all, which shines the light even in the midst of darkness.
“So the gospel humbles me before anyone, telling me I am a sinner saved only by grace. But it also emboldens me before anyone, telling me I am loved and honoured by the only eyes in the universe that really count. So the gospel gives boldness and humility that do not “eat each other up” but can increase together.”
– Tim Keller.
This is the heritage that we have in Christ Jesus. The light came into their camp as Moses yielded to the command of the Lord, raising up his hands to the heaven.