Transfiguration - With God in the Darkness

Music from The Return (Wellspring; reproduced with kind permission by Mike and Sally Thornton) The Transfiguration reminds us that at any time God’s power and glory can break through – but we will not always feel so intensely the nearness of heaven. When the voice from heaven had spoken, the disciples found that Jesus was alone. (Luke 9:36) We can no more hold on to these experiences than Peter could. God works according to His own timeframe. There are reasons for His delays, but we never feel more alone than when we set out in faith to accomplish something only to find that it has not worked out as we had hoped or expected. All the joy the disciples had experienced on the mountainside evaporated as they re-entered the world of illness sin and unbelief and found themselves unable to heal a boy. Lord, when we come down the mountainside and find ourselves confronted by pressing problems, may we continue to pursue the God of the Breakthrough, and yield no foothold to despair. Let us glimpse what You are doing, rather than reacting to what others are saying or demanding. Jesus warned, “Peter, Satan has asked to sift you as wheat. But I have prayed for you, that your faith may not fail – and when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers.” Lord, Beyond the shame of Peter’s outward denials, You knew his desire to love and walk with You. You no more washed Your hands of him when He let You down than You do with us. You can pick always pick us up one time more than we can ever fall. Forgive us, Lord, when we speak and act as though our trials are too great when, in reality, it is our love which is too small. Help us to embrace the royal road of repentance, and the gritty road of perseverance – for somewhere along these paths Your presence will break through. We lift to You those who are in danger of falling from their first love. In Jesus’ name, let the warmth of Your presence steal upon them unawares. Speak words of freedom to those whose minds are haunted by thoughts of failure. Shake them free from all that oppresses them, and help them discover opportunities in every challenge. Just as You delighted to restore Peter to his rightful position, once he had acknowledged his failure, may the peace of Christ restore many to Your service, and grant them a willing spirit to sustain them. For You delight to weave new beginnings out of the tangled tissue of our failures, and ordain strength from the depths of our brokenness. There is hope for a tree. If it is cut down, it will sprout again, and its new shoots will not fail. Its roots may grow old in the ground and its stump die in the soil, yet at the scent of water, it will bud and put forth shoots like a plant. Even so let it be, that we who experience Your pruning may bear still more fruit in years to come. Lord, it is in the darkness that our faith and love are tested. When we know so little and find ourselves obliged to seek so much, when the pressures seem too strong, and we are unable to make any progress, enlarge our hearts to trust You in the confusion, for this is how we will experience treasures in the darkness. ‘Maker of me, go on making me, and let me help Thee. Come, oh Father, here I am: let us go on. I know my words are those of a child, but it is Thy child that prays to Thee. It is Thy dark I walk in – it is Thy hand I hold.’ Even when the days seem dark, You remain faithful. Therefore we must sow our seed in the morning, and again at even-tide, for we do not know which will succeed, whether this or that, or whether both will do equally well. Direct us, Lord, to reach out to those who are wandering in the dark, that they may be restored to minister in Your name. When opportunities are few and far between, use these quieter times to renew our strength and to attend to matters we might otherwise have neglected. For as we are faithful in with what You give us to do today, You will bless our many tomorrows.