Luke 23:44-45 It was now about noon, and darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon. for the sun stopped shining. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two.
The day on which Jesus stepped into the shoes of the sinful humanity and gave up His life as a sin offering, there was a complete outage on earth. When the sun shutdown and refrained from rebooting for three hours, the thirty feet long veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom (Matthew 27:51). Josephus, an ancient Historian says that the veil was four inches thick and that horses tied to each side could not pull the veil apart. The news of this supernatural calamity in the temple would have forced the closedown of access to the temple. The commoners lamented and the close followers stood at a distance and watched Jesus on the cross, but there was something amazing that happened at the foot of the cross. The centurion, seeing what had happened, praised God and said, “Surely this was a righteous man” (Luke 23:47). Darkness covered the earth but the callous heart of the centurion who supervised the crucifixion melted and broke down.
God permits a complete shutdown of power, signals and connectivity between Heaven and earth just to enlighten our hearts.
Three reasons why God permits outage:
1. Shutdown: At times life suddenly shuts down on us without warning. Spiritual outages are divinely planned to take us out of the rat race and refocus. At times we come to a standstill just staring at the blank screen waiting and hoping for it to recover and reboot. An unexpected sudden news about a friend or a relative; an unwarranted financial, economical or emotional wreckage might bring our life to a sudden stop or shudder. The shutdown of our system is only to reboot, refocus, refresh and realign us with the valuable, intangible and imperishable spiritual system and journey.
2. Lockdown: We experience sudden lockdowns, quarantine or curfews in our spiritual journey. We might lose access to travel, trusted friends and touch. “When you can’t trace His hand; When you don’t see His plan; When you don’t understand; Trust His Heart”. In the spiritual when the Lord announces lockdowns, He is trying to get our attention to see something that we have taken for granted. When life was busy, we had no time for personal life but lockdown made us appreciate our family, home and close circle. Spiritual lockdowns are to give us rest from hurry, hustle and haste. Spiritual lockdown is not to restrict us but to restart us with newness, freshness and wholeness.
3. Meltdown: When the sun went on a strike and darkness covered the earth, the heart of the cold-hearted centurion softened and melted. The unforeseen occurrence is not to break us but to melt us and make us into honourable vessels. As we do with our phones, laptops and devices, when we lose the connectivity and signals between the terrestrial and celestial and wonder if God is near us or watching us, we must slow down, sit down and meltdown at His feet. Learn to trust His heart when you cannot see His hand.
God permits outage, shutdowns and lockdowns for us to experience meltdowns and to realign ourselves to His plan, purpose and proposition. The darkness is to draw us close to Him.
Psalms 23:4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.”
Prayer: Dear Jesus, I understand that the darkness is to teach me to trust you. Even when I experience a complete outage of spiritual disconnection teach me to trust you. Amen
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