Own the Darkness
Gregory Dickow
I don’t have a complicated message: I want to encourage people with the good news of God’s unconditional love—and to see that reality change their thinking and their emotions.
Own the Darkness

Where can I go from Your Spirit? Where can I flee from Your presence? If I go up to the heavens, You are there; if I make my bed in the depths, You are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there Your hand will guide me, Your right hand will hold me fast. If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me,” even the darkness will not be dark to You; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to You. (Psalm 139:7-12)

David experienced some dark situations. He was in the valley of the shadow of death (Psalm 23). He was running from Saul (Psalm 30, 34, 35). He committed adultery and murder. Some of these dark times came by his enemies, and some by his own bad decisions. Yet here, toward the end of the Psalms, he writes, “Where can I go from Your Spirit?”

This man has been through hell and torment; people have tried to kill him; he’s done some of the most selfish things a man can do. Yet through all of that, God’s presence was with him.

I love verses 11-12:

Indeed, the darkness shall not hide from You, but the night shines as the day; the darkness and the light are both alike to You. (Psalm 139:11-12)

No matter how dark your situation is, it makes no difference to God because He is light, and whatever darkness is in your life right now, His light is enough to overpower it. No matter how lonely or discouraged you feel, no matter what you’re fighting against, no matter what you’re struggling with, no matter what seems to have a foothold in your life, God will not let you out of the palm of His hand.

God doesn’t lead you into everything, but He leads you through everything.

For He Himself has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” So we may boldly say: “The Lord is my helper; I will not fear. What can man do to me?” (Hebrews 13:5-6)

Selah. Pause right now to think about that.

To God, it doesn’t matter what you’re going through. Darkness is no match for the light of God. Darkness and light don’t struggle. Light doesn’t have to fight darkness. If you’re in a dark room, there’s only one thing you need to do: turn on the light. The darkness won’t fight you, debate with you, or even complain about it! Light just wins. Always.

My #1 goal in life is to empower YOU to awaken to who you really are and the power you really have! You have the power to “turn on the light.”

The entrance of God’s Word brings light (Psalm 119:130).

Jesus is the light of the World (John 8:12).

God’s presence brings light (John 1:5).

“Religion” has told us we need fight our way into the presence of God, we have to work our way, sing our way into the presence of God. (If we had to sing our way into the presence of God, most of us would be going to hell. )

The bottom line is: nothing gets us into the presence of God except one thing — the blood of Jesus. And because His blood was shed for you, you are now in Christ—you are one with Him. You cannot be separated from Him. When you get ahold of this realization, you can begin to expect some amazing promises.

  1. Total Life Blessing. 2 Samuel 6:1-11 — Expect you and your household to be blessed because the Lord is with you! 
  2. Mountains will Melt like Wax.  Psalm 97:5 — Introduce your mountain to the presence of God. There isn’t enough room for your mountain in the presence of God. Talk to your mountain. Command it to be removed. 
  3. Joy. Psalm 16:11 — In His presence is fullness of joy. Wake up expecting supernatural joy every day! 
  4. The Power of Healing. Luke 5:17 — With the presence of God comes the power of healing. 
  5. Your Enemies Flee. Psalm 9:3 — David’s enemies fell back and perished because the Lord was with him. 
  6. Total Prosperity. 1 Samuel 18:14 — David prospered in all of his ways because the Lord was with him. 
  7. Success in Everything You Do. 2 Kings 18:7 — Hezekiah was successful at everything he did because the Lord was with him. 
  8. Your Life Gets Better and Better. 2 Samuel 5:10 — David became greater and greater because the Lord was with him. 
  9. Right Relationships. 2 Chronicles 15:9 — The right people will come to you because the Lord is with you. 
  10. Enemies Destroyed. 1 Chronicles 20:17 — You will not need to fight in the battle, only position yourself in the presence of God and stand still! God will fight on your behalf. 
  11. Total Rest. 1 Chronicles 22:18 — The Lord is with you, and He will give you rest on every side!


Every one of these promises comes from one thing: the awareness of the presence of God in your life.

There is no “action” you have to take to get in the presence of God. The only action that needed to be taken was Jesus’ blood being shed, and He did it! It is finished.

You are now in the presence of God, and the presence of God is in you! There is no darkness, trial, struggle or mistake that could ever separate you from His presence.

I break this down more in my recent message, Own the Darkness: Living in God’s Presence, which you can download for FREE by clicking here.

 

@GregoryDickow