Divine Images, part 4: Night
In difficult seasons the night can be particularly hard. In I Shall Not Die But Live Douglas Taylor wrote the following: “In the Diary of Kenneth MacRae (Banner of Truth, 1980), Mr MacRae is described, during his last illness, as dreading the night, with its sleeplessness and loneliness.” Taylor who was also in his last illness writes, “I can very much identify with this. During sleepless periods lately, I have dreaded the night too.” This is almost certainly why the Bible speaks of the night seasons . Night seasons are hard seasons of trial, which are often accompanied by temptations to fear and despair. Night seasons are symbolic of times of mourning. They represent times of suffering and grief and emotional or spiritual darkness. A dark trial even if experienced over the course of days and weeks is a night season. Job knew something of these hard nights. He said, “So am I made to possess months of vanity, and ...