Things Can Get Worse before They Get Better

The Divine Mystery of Darkness before the Dawn

Photo courtesy of Simon Spring on Unsplash

We have all heard the quote, “It is always darkest before the dawn.”

This observation of natural phenomena made by Thomas Fuller in the seventeenth century reflects a deeper truth.

In my own life, for years, I’ve been praying fervently for my family members to turn to God, at least, and at best, to join the Catholic Church.

Unfortunately, from outward appearances, these prayers were either A. ignored or B. left unanswered. Surely, God didn’t say “no” to this request. It occurred to me that God might be on a long vacation.

Then it happened.

Mass conversion?

No!

The bottom fell out for everyone for whom I had prayed.

Each family member, almost simultaneously, faced a major life crisis.

When bad news continued to roll in, I was in shock.

Again, I prayed fervently, but this time I whined, “God, what’s going on? I’ve been praying so long for my family and now this? Why wouldn’t you answer these prayers when they seem aligned with your will?”

I heard an inner voice as clearly as if it had been audible: “How do you know this isn’t an answer to your prayers?”

Suddenly, I remembered the Scripture: “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, says the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts” (Isaiah 55:8–9, RSV).

I admit I had not considered option C: things can get worse before they get better.

Several anecdotes came to mind. One Christian relative fell from a ladder and went in for an X-ray. Doctors discovered asymptomatic lung cancer in an early stage. She was treated and is fine today. She marvels that had she not decided to stand on a ladder while painting and fallen off, she might not have been diagnosed until it was too late. She gives the credit to God for saving her, albeit not in the way she might have preferred!

A friend of mine was transferred from her hometown to a big, unfamiliar city. At the time, she was a single mom and devastated. However, she trusted God, packed up, and moved. There she met a wonderful man who became her future husband.

In January of 2020, I put my house on the market because I wanted to move clear across the country to live near my family. I did not need a realtor because I lived in a popular neighborhood near a college campus. Houses were relatively easy to sell.

A buyer appeared. The contracts were signed, earnest money collected, house inspections completed, and a deal was in place, including the closing date a few days away. I was all ready to go and had a complicated set of moving plans in place, as well as dates set for moving into the new place several states away.

The phone rang one evening. The buyer decided to bail out of the contract.

It was on my birthday, which made the bad news worse. I almost panicked. Almost. However, I knew from experience that God is in the business of rescuing us, so I prayed…and begged God to help me figure out what to do.

There was one realtor who had stopped by early on in response to my “for sale” sign in the yard to politely ask me to consider using her services. She was one of those people who is truly radiant. I had kept her card, so I called her that evening and explained my plight. She was confident and said, “Let me see what I can do.”

The next morning, she called. She had found a person willing to pay cash and stick to my original closing date, and her client paid nearly all of her fees. No one can convince me that God did not have a hand in what felt like a minor miracle at the time.

For all I know, she may have been an angel!

Furthermore, little did I know that Covid was around the corner, and had I needed to wait a few more months to find another buyer, selling would have become far more difficult and complicated.

Look at the life of Jesus. His disciples were crestfallen when Jesus was crucified. It certainly seemed to them as if their hopes had been dashed for a triumphant Messiah.

Things couldn’t have gotten much worse.

Yet three days later, the dawn illuminated an empty tomb.

The Son of God had defeated death by his glorious Resurrection, paving the way for our salvation!

We cannot see God’s hand at work. God is invisible.

Consider this fact. Even though while he was on earth, Jesus was not invisible, there were times people failed to recognize him.

Easter Day, a few hours after the Resurrection, Jesus appeared unrecognized to two men, Cleopas and an unnamed man, on the road to Emmaus. Scripture says, “But their eyes were kept from recognizing him” (Luke 24:16, RSV).

Jesus asked what they were discussing, and they were lamenting the news of the crucifixion and the questionable news from some women who claimed the tomb was found empty.

Jesus replied, “Oh, foolish men, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?” (Luke 24:25–26, RSV).

The best part of the encounter occurred when the two men insisted that Jesus, this friendly stranger, join them at home for dinner. While there, Jesus took bread, blessed and broke it. Then he gave it to them and “their eyes were opened, and they recognized him, and he vanished out of their sight” (Luke 24:31, RSV).

This Gospel was read last Sunday at Mass. The priest pointed out that Jesus disappeared yet was present in the bread that day as he had foretold. In fact, Luke ends this story by pointing out that Jesus was “known to them in the breaking of the bread” (Luke 24:35, RSV). Jesus continues to be present in the bread and wine we consume during the Holy Eucharist.

God works in mysterious ways. We may not be able to see him or understand what he is doing behind the scenes.

But one thing is for certain: God alone can and does turn the darkness into the dawn.