Tirando los cacahuates

¡Suddenly the car stops unexpectedly! The tragedy was avoided in time, at least on the outside. However, the boy who was inside the car wouldn't think that, since his bag of peanuts fell on the floor of the truck.

This could be a tragedy for him if where the peanuts fell was dirty. His mother would allow him to pick them up, as long as the floor was clean.

Por Roberto Ewing.

Many times we are like this child, instead of peanuts it is our emotions that frequently spill out, in some shocks in life. How clean our inner man is, will determine how much we will be able to collect them and keep them in that good deposit in us that is a blessing, or will we take them with dirt, such as murmuring, cruel feelings, and bitterness? We can only possess what we can hold under pressure.

So God allows the pressures of darkness upon us to openly test others what He already knows, that is, how much of the inheritance of Christ's love, joy, and peace we can maintain after our emotions have been poured out.

The Night.

Night in the Bible generally speaks of evil, not in the sense of sin alone, but, in the sense of strife, affliction, adversity and calamities. “That I form light and create darkness, that I make peace and create evil. I am the Lord who does all this.” Isaiah 45:7. We must have the proof before we have the testimony for Christ. It is not a testimony for Christ when we go through an experience as the loser. However, when we spend them singing and praising God, like Paul and Silas in the Philippian prison, then people will notice that we have something they need. After all, we are like God's showcase, and we should allow Him to keep us clean and also supply us with His great quality of divine nature that only comes from Him.

One doesn´t need to look far to find in the Bible the different types of night and the different types of “peanuts” that God has for us in such experiences. In the seven nights (evenings) and days of creation, a pattern is established that sets a precedent for the following nights and their days shown in the Word. Because, as strange as it may seem, these fall into “weeks” or patterns of sevens throughout the Bible. Each “week” or circle of seven nights reflects the exact same pattern established here in the book of Genesis.

1. Visitation.

The first night is the night of the visitation. “And the Spirit of God moved over the face of the waters,” Gen. 1:2, and then he made light visible. What does this visitation of God mean to us, when his Spirit deals with us whether good or bad? It depends on how our hearts is before Him. Christ warned Jerusalem: “You did not know the time of your visitation.”

The orientals always brought a gift when they visited someone. Naturally one determines the type of gift one brings according to the nature of one's visit. God called Israel's deliverance from captivity a visitation on His part.

2. Separation.

After working all day, sometimes night time is the normal time to visit. The second night of creation is the night of separation. Although in each of these seven nights and days, we find this principle, here it stands out. “Find an expanse (firmament) in the midst of the waters, and separate the waters from the waters. Gen. 1:6. The expansion divided the waters below from the vapour of the clouds above. During the day you mix with the world. But God has provided the night to separate us from the many pressures of the day.

3. Cover.

The night is the night of the cover since God made on the next day the vegetation to cover the land and the seas to cover the depths of the ocean. “With the abyss as with a garment, you covered it.” Vegetation is mentioned as a covering in Psalm 65:13.

It is obvious to comment that that night was God's great covering over the universe, which serves as our protection. Gen. 1:11.

4. Understanding.

The fourth night is the night of understanding when we learn the lesson of God and “…night after night declares wisdom. There is no saying or words, nor is his voice heard.” Ps. 19:2, 3. God has a message and this is his Son Jesus Christ. When we are in heaven, instead of the satanic deception upon the human imagination that the heavens predict people's future, we will see that they are all a perfect picture of Christ and his place in each of the progressive dispensations of man. Gen. 1:14. It is true that in privacy, one finds that the night is an excellent time for meditation. David did it.

5. Surveillance.

The fifth night is the night of surveillance. Because? Then “every living thing that crawls” (every living thing that moves, 1960 version), which includes all animals, was created (although Genesis 1:24 says they began to increase). “You put the darkness and it is night: in it, all the beasts of the jungle run around. The young lions roar at their prey, and seek their food from God. The sun rises, gather together, and lie down in your caves. Ps. 104:20-22. Gen. 1:20-24.

The Romans divided their nights into four vigils or candles. Our modern civilization has made it more complex, but the principle is the same, as when the watchmen or watchmen waited in the morning around the city walls. May we have our lamps lit!

6. Personal Knowledge.

The sixth night is the night of intimate personal knowledge. Adam had it first with God in his solitude, before having it with his wife, Eve.

Communion with your close friends, learning through mutual experiences and deepening our fellowship, makes us know them. The night is often the opportunity to do it. God should be number one on our list of intimate knowledge. Gen. 1:26.

7. Rest and Cessation of one´s work

The seventh night is the night of rest and cessation of the work. “And on the seventh day God finished his work that he had done, and on the seventh day he rested from all the work that he had done.” Gen. 2:2.

The night or time of darkness for some is when their partner seeks a divorce, or when their engagement breaks down, for others it may be when they have problems at work. Illness and many other things can be a “night” of adversity.

Whatever your “night” may be, may the Word of God keep you clean inside, so that when your little car hits a bump in life, you will experience one or more of these benefits mentioned above. May you feel the visitation of His Presence like “songs in the night” that spring up in your being!

May experiencing your “night” serve as a sieve to sift and separate all the hidden weevils in your life! Separation towards God and from sin.

May you experience Psalm 91:1 and its covering as you hide under the shadow of the Most High!

Whatever lesson God wishes to teach you in your night of life's affliction, may this give you understanding as you meditate before the Lord!

And when you need it, may God in the dark hour of Gethsemane cause you to be vigilant and awake with your Lord!

Also, the purpose of all this is for you to know Him in an intimate way, and by doing so, you will enter into rest and cease from your works.

And one last lesson: When you suddenly hit an unexpected bump in your life, instead of your emotions spilling out everywhere, you can hope that the lid on the cover of Christ's love will stop them, so you won't throw away your peanuts.