Treasures Of Darkness

I will give you the treasures of darkness And hidden riches of secret places, That you may know that I, the Lord, Who call you by your name, Am the God of Israel. Isaiah‬ ‭45‬:‭3‬ ‬‬

I went to the Lord to ask about what these treasures and riches were. He brought to mind how the darkness in the very beginning, had the land and the sea in its concealment — and the land had animals and trees and the dust from whence man came. The sea had fish, and vast leviathans…but these all were in the dark.

That was an example of how the darkness holds so much treasure. Moreover, when it’s dark in a room, one may not fully comprehend what beautiful artifacts lie within.

But God says I’ll give you treasures …

And I believe, like He said ‘let there be light’ first before anything else was created, God will give you the treasures of darkness by revelation. By shining a specific light your way that you might see … and acquire whatever treasure hiding.

Many of us ask God for money. But instead of Him handing us the money, He chooses to give us the thing, or a thing, that gives money. He said that wealth and riches are in the house of the righteous. He said He’d give you power to get wealth. Power means the authority or the influence — to get wealth. He’d rather sort your financial wellbeing for life, that when you come to Him you talk of greater things regarding salvation as regards to the ‘next breakthrough.’

The example He gave me was Joseph’s. All along we could have thought Joseph’s dreaming and the interpretation thereof was a mere gift. When he was young, it seemed like this gift could only land him in trouble. Decades later, the gift got him out of the prison, into the palace and changed his title from ‘inmate’ to ‘prime minister.’

When I think deeply about that moment, I always worry that Joseph could have asked Pharaoh for only his freedom. Maybe he could have asked for gold that could have run him a few years. Instead, the position that was given him, gave him gold for the rest of his life, to his children, grand children — and, to his brothers, and their wives and their children and gained favor to all their generations in the sight of every Pharaoh that rose to rule for the next decades!

The question is: what treasures has God given you?

My interpretation is; they may not seem like pompous gifts, but at a right time, they can turn your life around. Emphasis still lies on the fact that this one gift not only sorted Joseph for the rest of his life; but many others included, and — it saved many nations from extinction too!

God wants to give you more than the next day’s meal. He told Abraham your father, that through Him all nations would be blessed. Not just you, but peoples and races! That is where our minds ought to shift.

The other actual treasure for Joseph was the fact that Pharaoh was in the dark. He dreamt, but he had no idea what the dream meant. And even after, he had no solution to it. This is where we progress to the ‘hidden riches of secret places.’

I like the fact that the New Testament demonstrated the secret place to be a covenant arrangement or a communion area for prayer. God unravels that there are riches to it! Daniel prayed thrice a day, and there were rewards to it. Nebuchadnezzar dreamt! Belshazzar saw a hand write something he had never seen! When Daniel cracked the codes to all these, rewards beyond ‘money’ came! He was promoted. If he was asked what he wanted, he could have asked for less than God’s best.

So you can see the promotion sort all these other things, that Daniel would serve His God untimidly, but also, that the world around would see His God’s majesty and tremble before Him.

So after this insight; I pray you do not go to God to ask for a raise, or a better job; don’t ask for gold! Ask for what brings gold! Ask for a treasure of darkness! That’s even wrong! God said He has given it to you! So the actual prayer is to give thanks, and for Him to show you what treasures and hidden riches He has given to you!

If you are a secret place dweller, you should be knowing what has been given you! For these can sort the rest of the peripherals of your life. These are what can cause ‘all these other things to be added to you’ when you seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness.

One of these could be wisdom! The same that enabled Daniel & Joseph to interpret accurately. Proverbs tells us that wisdom should be desired more than silver and gold. Within gold alone, there might be no wisdom — some people even gain gold or money through unjust means. But within wisdom, gold must be guaranteed.

So Father we pray, that you open our eyes like Hagar; to see what has been given us; to know its (or their) value, and to steward it well. May we not be careless with any treasures you have given us. May we not give them up for bowls of soup, nor deal wickedly with them. May they lead to the advancement and the blessing of the nations you choose, and cause men to fear you, and bow to you! To the glory of your name!