Darkness Shall Not Prevail

Many years ago now, in a Sunday morning class, a friend shared with our class very honestly about how his relationship with his wife had fallen apart. He said that there was one particular moment when he and his wife were fighting, and in the middle of this fight he said some things that were just horrible. And the moment the words came out of his mouth, she burst into tears and he knew he was wrong. He said, “I know I can’t save the marriage, but I would do anything, anything if I could only take back those words.” 

My friend was not a bad person. But he had a bad moment. I think we’ve all had those moments when we realize that there is a sense in which I am not whole. I’m broken. And this brokenness is not just in the world around me, it’s also in me. 

It is true. As it is written in the book of Romans (3:23), “…all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” However, the sacred scriptures also make the bold claim that sin doesn’t have the last word. Pain and brokenness do not have the last word. All throughout the scriptures we get a beautiful picture of a God who is at work even now to heal and redeem; a God who is taking the broken, the hurting, and the sinful and making it whole and new. 

T.S. Elliot once wrote:

There shall always be the Church
and the world;
And the heart of man;
Shivering and fluttering between
them, choosing and chosen,
Valiant, ignoble, dark and full of light;
Swinging between Hell Gate and Heaven Gate.
And the Gates of Hell shall not prevail.
Darkness now, then light.

Let us pray: Gracious God, You know how we struggle, between hope and despair, goodness and sin, love and hate. We thank you today for your grace, for your forgiveness, and for the hope that you make all things new. Make us new, this day, that we might live in the fullness of your joy and love. We pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.