God promises us peace, but not smooth sailing or immunity from life’s problems. The Bible says you can ‘fear the Lord yet walk in darkness and trouble.’ Check your Bible: a) Job lived an exemplary life yet he lost everything. Troubled and perplexed, he cried, ‘[God] has blocked my way…he has shrouded my paths in darkness (Job 19:8 NIV) b) Jeremiah, after preaching to a rebellious people who beat and imprisoned him, said, ‘Oh, that…my eyes [were] a fountain…I would weep day and night for…my people’ (Jeremiah 9:1 NIV) c) Paul suffered so much he ‘despaired even of life’ (2 Corinthians 1:8 KJV). Faith is like film; it’s developed in the dark. Dark days make us lean on God in ways we normally wouldn’t. The truth is, if our faith was never tested we wouldn’t be motivated to pursue God and draw closer to Him. Edward Mote wrote: ‘When darkness seems to hide His face, I rest on His unchanging grace. When all around my soul gives way, He then is all my hope and stay. On Christ the solid rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand.’ It’s easy to praise God when your health is good and your bills are paid. It’s when light suddenly turns to darkness that we discover what our faith is made of and where our trust truly lies. It’s in those seasons, that we develop night vision!