Justice | Mercy | Faith

Justice | Mercy | Faith

Finding God’s Light in the Darkness: How Faith Sees When Nothing Is Clear

Difficulty Level: Intermediate

Finding God’s Light in the Darkness: How Faith Sees When Nothing Is Clear

Faith & Doubt | God & His Attributes | Old Testament | Suffering & God's Providence | Types of Christ

Can God, who is light, truly be found when we’re surrounded by darkness? That’s the question at the heart of this reflection on Joseph’s story and our own struggles with suffering, silence, and uncertainty. Faith is often misunderstood as clarity—but as this conversation explores, it’s really about trusting God when clarity is gone.

We’ll look at how God’s light shines not by removing the darkness, but by entering into it with us. Through Joseph’s life, the cross of Christ, and the promise of His presence, we begin to understand how faith sees what eyes cannot.

You once said, in reflecting on Joseph’s life, “Faith is not about having clarity—it’s about trusting God in the dark.” But if God is light, how can He be found in the midst of our darkness?

That’s a profound and beautiful question—one that touches the very heart of faith.

God is light, and in him is no darkness at all” (1 John 1:5), and yet we often find ourselves walking through valleys so shadowed that we can barely see our own hands stretched in front of us. How then can the God who is Light be found in such darkness?

Let’s approach this slowly.

🔦 1. The Paradox: Light in Darkness

Faith lives in tension with what is seen. God’s light is not always visible light—it is often perceived light, revealed light. And here is the mystery:

God does not always remove the darkness; sometimes He enters it.

Just as Jesus stepped into a dark, fallen world—born in a stable, crucified on a hill—God enters our darkness, not always to banish it immediately, but to walk with us through it. Remember Psalm 23:

“Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for You are with me…”

He is the light in the darkness. But He is not always the flashlight. Sometimes He is simply there—unseen, unfelt, yet present.

🔍 2. Faith Is Eyes Adjusted to the Dark

When you enter a dark room, you can’t see anything at first. But give it time, and your eyes adjust. That’s what happens in seasons of faith:

You don’t see less of God in the dark; you begin to see Him differently.

When Joseph was in the pit, in Potiphar’s prison, and forgotten in Pharaoh’s dungeon, there were no angelic choirs. No parted seas. But God was with him (Genesis 39:21: “But the Lord was with Joseph and showed him steadfast love”).

Faith is not about feeling that presence—it’s about trusting that it’s true.

🌄 3. God Is Preparing Us to See a Greater Light

There is something only darkness teaches. And perhaps this is why Scripture says:

I will give you treasures of darkness and hidden riches of secret places, that you may know that I am the LORD…”
(Isaiah 45:3)

Joseph would not have known God the Redeemer, the Dream-Fulfiller, the Sovereign Orchestrator, unless he had first walked through betrayal, abandonment, and silence.

His clarity came after. The Light dawned after. Just as it did with the disciples when the tomb was empty, and their darkness turned to unspeakable joy.

💬 4. Jesus: The Light Who Enters Our Night

Ultimately, the answer to how God can be found in our darkness is found in Christ. On the cross, Jesus entered the darkest moment in human history—forsaken, crucified, enveloped in literal and spiritual night. And yet, in that moment, the Light of the World was never brighter.

He didn’t avoid our night. He passed through it, so that now—even when we cannot see—we know we are not alone.

“The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.”
(John 1:5)

✨ What It Means for Us

So when we can’t see the way, we remember:

  • Faith is not seeing, but believing that He is there.
  • Hope is not certainty about outcomes, but confidence in His goodness.
  • Love is His presence holding us, even when we cannot feel it.

So yes, God is light, and though we walk through darkness, we are never truly in the dark.

“If I say, ‘Surely the darkness will hide me…’ even the darkness is not dark to You.”
(Psalm 139:11–12)