Month: February 2025

Life Interrupted

Barbara Kain Parker Barbara Parker, Biblical Insights, Inspirational, Personal Testimony , , , , , , , , , ,

I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.
John 16:33 ESV

Have you ever felt like you were just cruising along through life and things were looking up when suddenly it felt as if you’d just missed a road sign warning of a big curve ahead? In an instant, everything changed and life was interrupted. It happened to me about a year and a half ago when a medical emergncy turned the lives of my family upside down. Since then it’s been one curve after another, to the point that I’m now a full-time caregiver and the struggles have definitely challenged me as never before.

That said, as always God has been faithful through everything that has happened, even inspiritng me to write Light Clothed in Darkness: A Mystery. Nevertheless, there have been many moments (or hours, or days, or weeks, or months!) when all seems hopeless. But He always draws me back into His embrace and reminds me of Who He is and to Whom I belong, whether speaking directly to my heart or leading me to the perfect Bible passage for the moment. Today, for example, there were some oh-so-encouraging words from a footnote to Genesis 22:1a TPT, Sometime later, God tested Abraham. The footnote, “The purpose of God’s tests are not so that we will fail, but that he will prove that we are faithful. The Midrash shows the word for ‘tested’ is derived etymologically from a word that means ‘[elevated] banner,’ like a flag flying high above a ship or a victory banner over an army… Tests are God’s confidence in our future. The budding qualities of Christlikeness are brought forth in every test of our faith. Someday, you may call a ‘blessing’ what you once called a ‘burden.’ ” I can attest to that! In one instance after another throughout my life this has happened, not the least of which was a year spent battling brest cancer or the time spent assiting my dad and mom in the final years of their lives. What blessings have come out of those times that were so full of grief and pain, times of endlessly crying out to God for help. I have zero doubt that His promises are certain and His faithfulness to His children is unending.

A faithful man will abound with blessings… Proverbs 28:20a ESV

Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. Isaiah 41:10 ESV

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

Light Clothed in Darkness: A Mystery

Barbara Kain Parker Biblical Insights, God Encounters of the Supernatural Kind, Inspirational , , , , , , , , , ,

Those who love a good mystery often try to figure out ‘who done it’ long before the finale is revealed. It’s easy at times because some authors drop so many obvious hints that one would have to be pretty dense not to see what’s coming. The more entertaining mysteries are those requiring the reader to pay close attention to everything that happens before an ending can be discerned; but the absolute best mysteries are the ones that leave you hanging, right up to the end, the ones you never figure out until the final piece of the puzzle falls into place and the plot is finally revealed in full.  

God is the greatest mystery of all, and He has clearly stated that His thoughts are not our thoughts, nor are His ways our ways. Yet, He loves to reveal Himself to those who seek after Him, as promised in Daniel 2:22 ESV:

It is he who reveals the profound and hidden things; he knows what is in the darkness, and the light dwells with him.      

One of the greatest mysteries is that God surrounds himself in darkness, yet He is Light. How can that be? Light Clothed in Darkness attempts to answer the question, using scriptures as well as the revelatory understanding of the authors and others.