Woman in forest with fall leaves reflecting on God's goodness

Shining Bright: God’s Plan in Dark Times

Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is. Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit. Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Ephesians 5:15-20

Fall is a beautiful season. We can see God’s beauty outside as the leaves change color and transform our neighborhoods. Our streets are no longer just black asphalt; they are covered with leaves that are shades of orange, red, and brown. We feel a nice, crisp, cool breeze as we go outside. It is a wonderful time to sip hot drinks and cozy up with a blanket as we read.

Fall is also a season of transition; the old is passing away while the plant life and trees make way for the new and prepare for winter. Bare trees, flowers no longer in bloom, and increased rain can make the season seem dark and gloomy. We may begin to miss the longer days marked by the sun lighting up our surroundings. Whether we love fall or prefer summer, every season comes to an end and has a purpose.

The reality of seasons is just as true spiritually as it is naturally. Something interesting takes place during the physical season of fall; spiritual darkness seems to brood and is even celebrated by many. In Ephesians 5, we read that “the days are evil.” This will not surprise us, yet we should be keenly aware of what God is doing despite this. As Christians, we are told not to fear and to focus instead on God. We can make the most of every opportunity when we understand what He is doing during this time.

Even if our culture partners with the darkness, Christians can partner with God to see His light shine through us. As we read God’s Word, we learn and understand His will, plans, desires, and agenda. Ephesians 5 shows us that God is not moved by a seemingly dark season.

Through this Scripture, we can glean four ways that we can make the most of every opportunity, no matter the season:

1. Understand the Lord’s will—Spend more time in the Bible and less time on the internet. Understanding God’s will is more important than knowing every detail of what is going on in our world. God’s will is for us to be more like Jesus. We cannot control everything in our world, but we can do our part by allowing God the Father to conform us more to the image of His Son.

2. Be filled with the Spirit—We have a choice. We can be filled with the ways of the world or with the Holy Spirit. To be filled with the Spirit, we must simply ask Him to fill us. And as He fills us, we must remember to depend on Him and not to try to do things in our own power.

3. Worship—We don’t worship God to get something; we worship God because He is worthy. As we worship, though, God often moves. He enthrones Himself on our praises. As we go about our day, let’s sing songs of worship to our beautiful God. We don’t have to be loud and boisterous, but we also don’t need to wait for a church service to worship. We must learn to lead ourselves in worship and make music from our hearts for the Lord every day.

4. Give thanks to the Father for everything—Instead of complaining about all that is wrong around us, we must look for opportunities to thank God. The more we look at Him, the more thankful we will become. And even our culture recognizes that the fall is a beautiful season to count our blessings and thank God for all He has provided.

As the trees dig their roots deep in preparation for winter, they make way for new life in spring and summer. While our world may look dark and gloomy, and we see evil all around us, we can dig our roots deep into the Lord and press into Him like never before. We are in a season, and every season comes to an end. One day, we will look up in the sky and see our King coming on the clouds. Evil will be destroyed, and we will be in His glorious presence forever. New life is coming!

Be encouraged; in all the darkness, our God shines bright, and His light never goes out. In the meantime, focus on Jesus and get into the Word like never before. He is the King over every season of our lives.

By Keely McCartney, Contracted Writer for Biblica

19 comments

  1. Lucille Timms says:

    Thank you you so much!! I’m a believer in God and live by his word to the best of my ability. I lost my only daughter 2 years ago. I’m in a dark place but I’m convinced that God has more for me. I’m raising her son who is nine now. My whole life has changed except my love for God and his help has not! I’m encouraged by these articles.

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    1. Brick says:

      Prayers. Sorry for your loss. RIP. God always has a plan.

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      1. Blessed message for my season.

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    2. vickie says:

      Lucille, YES!! The Lord definitely has more for you! I lost my daughter 31 years ago and your testimony is already a blessing to me. It always hurts my heart for the Lord and those who say after losing their loved one that they will never be ok again. HE IS FAITHFUL and He is blessed by your trust and faith. Praying for you today! My testimony is that He is SOOO GOOD and that He has always been, especially in the dark seasons as we lean on Him.

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    3. Margaret Sawatzky says:

      I’m so sorry to hear that. I’ll be praying for you and your granddaughter.

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    4. Esther says:

      May your God whom you believe in restore you and make you whole.

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    5. Mumba Matildah says:

      Sorry for your loss. God is with you always.

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  2. Bryan A Tuggle says:

    Thank you for the awesome reminders for deepening our faith and relationship with God! I needed to hear this today. Thank you so much.

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  3. TefoKesitilwe2 says:

    Wow! This really helped me. God is good all the time. I’m really glad I read this.

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  4. Joseph Joseph Hohicksoon says:

    Thank you for this opportunity to come to know God my Almighty Father. Please pray for me and my three children. We lost our mother two and a half months ago. We need his peace, unity and his blessings over our lives. We ask for his forgiveness for all our sins in the past and we want to know him more in our life and relationships.

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  5. Myungsuk Hiruko says:

    Thank you. It is often a day of depression and tears. It’s been three months since my husband passed away. I received a lot of grace after reading your writing.

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  6. Juma Moses says:

    I thank God for this word, It’s very touching….,👏👏

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  7. Derek Hunter says:

    So glad I read your article. I’m a writer too, and wrote this short devotion called, “SHINE”.
    SHINE

    As you go about your day
    This charge the Lord said do
    Wherever darkness lingers
    You’re to let your let shine through

    And if you get approval
    For the works done in your story
    Remember to stay humble
    It’s God who gets the glory

    By Derek W. Hunter (c) 2023

    Not to long ago, I was on the verge of throwing away what I thought were two empty bottles of cologne. Before putting them in the trash, something told me to hold one of the bottles up to the light to see if anything was still in it. To my amazement, there was plenty of good smelling cologne still left in the bottle. The other bottle had plenty of cologne left in it too. Not only did I see something sweet smelling was still inside the bottles, but the light transformed their appearance. Right then the Lord gave me a revelation. Be patient with persons we assume are full of darkness and that there’s no hope for them. Just like those bottles of cologne, even the darkest of us have something sweet smelling on the inside; we just have to be exposed to the light!

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  8. Alex obong says:

    Your material is really helping me in my daily devotions, may God bless you abundantly.

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  9. Mathilda Lukas says:

    Amen. I am so blessed. 🙏

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  10. Hope Sally Musongole says:

    Thank you for sharing your article. I would love to continue receiving such encouraging messages.

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    1. NIV Bible says:

      You can sign-up here and receive a new article each week: https://www.thenivbible.com/niv-blog-signup-form/

  11. Thadeo says:

    Thank you so much for these words of God. I really appreciate it and am inspired to come back to God as sometimes I forget him and fall into sin.

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  12. Keelan Kimani says:

    Thank you NIV Bible. I was up late and stressing about homework when I read your message. Helped me to place first things first: my relationship with the Lord over trying to be and do everything. Helped me go to sleep.

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