Devotions for a Busy Business Person, no. 317 – Eating the Darkness

You have to eat the darkness.

It is a hard phrase, I know. I do not remember reading it anywhere exactly that way. I think it came to me through a synthesis of Scripture, personal experience, the writings of Martin Shaw and kindred voices, and the music and reflections of Nick Cave.

“The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” — John 1:5

By “eating the darkness,” I do not mean embracing evil, despair, or fear. I mean facing what is real, however difficult, and allowing God to transform it into wisdom, courage, humility, and love.

At my age, I must face the darkness of my own mortality. Not simply the death or transition of my business, but my own death, limits, and diminishment.

In ReGen.Global, we are planting a tree of generational flourishing under whose shade I will not sit. The Team and I will not run away from that sombre fact. We must plan, in a joyful and committed way, for a future that will outlast us.

I have a client who is now, finally, facing the existential threat confronting an enterprise he has built over the last twenty years. As long as that darkness was avoided, very little could be done. Now that he is acknowledging it, we can shed light on the issue. We are finally making progress.

You may be facing darkness in your company or organisation: the bleakness of a cash-flow cliff, the fog caused by a non-performing staff member, the uncertain dusk of market change, or the graying grief of realizing that something you built may need to change, shrink, or even die. 

I urge you not to run from these difficult realities, but to face them head on. 

“Even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you.” — Psalm 139:12

Jesus set his face toward Jerusalem (Luke 9:51), knowing full well the darkness He would face on Calvary. Jesus walked knowingly toward suffering, not because darkness was good, but because redemption required Him to enter it. He not only entered it, He overcame it. 

So will you, with Christ’s help.

Prayer

Lord Jesus,
You set Your face toward Jerusalem and entered the darkness for our sake. Give us the courage to face what is difficult, painful, or uncertain in our lives and work. Help us not to run from hard truths, but to bring them into Your light. Transform our fear into wisdom, our grief into love, and our obedience into hope.

Amen