Winter 2002
Treasures Hidden in Darkness
Ruth M. Dahl

Many years ago while living in New York, I went through one of the darkest nights of my soul. My husband had left and I was alone with three young children. Only God knows the pain and heartache I experienced.

I was driving home one night after visiting a friend. In that dark night spiritually and physically, I began to sing the song: “There is room at the cross for you.” The Holy Spirit began to call me: “Come back to the cross, come back to the cross.” I saw myself coming; multitudes were there before me. Then I saw myself kneeling at the end of a long line of people. Tears flooded my eyes and I wept all the way home. Streams of living water washed over my soul. Such sweet release and peace came over my being.

In that deep, dark night His presence was so real. A tremendous flow of love blanketed my entire being. This was one of the many times that Jesus revealed Himself to me as the greatest, hidden treasure in the dense darkness. He promised never to leave us, nor forsake His own. I sensed His presence covering me like a warm blanket of love and protection.

“Seek, and you shall find.” Matt 7:7b.

This word, “seek,” means to go in search of, to try to find, to inquire, and to look for. Matt 6:33 tells us to “Seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness.”

Col 2:3 speaks of the mystery of God in Christ, “In whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.” Are you seeking the hidden treasures? What are these hidden treasures and where are they found?

In seeking to know Christ Jesus in all His splendor and glory, we seek to know Him in an intimate relationship.

“That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection,
and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made
conformable unto His death; Phil 3:10.

This was the heart-cry of Paul, and for all those who desire to attain to the fullness of His grace and knowledge in Christ. He is the very essence of our entire lives. Our lives are wrapped up in His love, resulting in joy and peace.

By seeking to know Him through the Word of God from Genesis to Revelation, God in His nature and character leaps out of the pages by the illuminating light of the Holy Spirit. In the Old Testament, we find Christ concealed, and in the New Testament, Christ revealed.

As we open our hearts to the Lord Jesus, and keep seeking Him, He will satisfy the hunger of our hearts and meet all our needs.

“And I will give you the treasures of darkness and the
hidden riches of secret places, that you may know that
it is I, the Lord, the God of Israel, Who calls you by
your name.” Isa 45:3 NKJV

Quoting from John Follette’s book: Pressed Juice From Living Fruit, “Are you willing to pay the price of penetrating the darkness? You will find a treasure and a revelation of Christ which is never seen in the open. He does at times give sparkling gems of illumination, in an unclouded day (we have that heart experience). But some of the choicest and most costly revelations of God, and of His truth are discovered in the deepest shadow, or dense darkness.”

The Lord Jesus is the Light in the darkness. He said: “I am the Light of the world.” This becomes reality only when we are cast into a dark dungeon of life. How beautiful He is in the dark nights. It is then that we see Him as the bright and Morning Star.

I recall many nights during my mother’s illness when sleep had escaped me. I would look out the window, and each time, I would see a bright star, reminding me of Jesus, the bright and Morning Star. Truly He works the night shift. He is there all the time.

Even as He died on the cross, your name and my name were on His mind. We may come and drink of the water of life freely. He loves us unconditionally, with a love that no human can understand. If we do not respond to His love-call, how can He take us into His heart and embrace us? It’s up to us to meet Him at the appointed time. He calls us and woos us by His Spirit.

Listen to His voice saying: “I love you with an everlasting love.” Surrender, and meet Jesus afresh at the foot of the cross. “There’s room at the cross for you, though millions have come, there is still room for one. There is room at the cross for you.”

Come today, and He will meet you there.