Encouragement

Hope in Dark Times by Mike Ramey

by Mike Ramey
09/12/25
Free to Share
Author requests article critique

  Message Writer
  Hire Writer

Tweet

“The Christian, thanks to possessing Jesus Christ and by the Holy Spirit, is protected to see in and through the darkness of his times.”

--Mike Ramey

Retired Gospel Preacher and Syndicated Columnist

     In war, they are called battles.

     In boxing, they are called rounds.

     In this life, they are called seasons.

     All are controlled by the Living God.

     I don’t know where my column will find you, my reading friend. You may be in a dark night of suffering and affliction, wondering if you will ever see the sun again. I’ve had those experiences, and they are not fun to say the least…but they HAVE helped me to grow in my faith in God, and as a Man of God over the years. As the old folk used to say (and I am now numbered among them): “Hard times will put some steel in your spine, a pep in your step, and some soul in your stroll!”

     Corrie Ten Boom, author of The Hiding Place and Tramp for the Lord could tell you how to see in and through the darkness. Her family took a stand during World War II and hid Jews in their home in defiance of the Gestapo. Her family’s reward? Arrest. Confinement. Hard time in a labor camp—then a concentration camp. Members of her family killed by the Nazis. Upon her release, a return to her country broke and without much in the way of physical comforts—but she had Jesus Christ in her heart and soul. Later in life, during a ministry engagement, one of the guards who displayed the utmost in cruelty at the camp where she was held—the same camp which led to the death of her sister—came up to her and said that he had become a Christian and asked her for her forgiveness.

     This was her test. Could she forgive her enemy? One who KNOWINGLY participated in her suffering. One who KNOWINGLY participated in the death of her sister?

     Forgive him she did! Ten Boom offered her hand and welcomed him as a brother in Christ.

     E. V. Hill, in one of his appearances on TBN years ago, noted in one of his sermons that “weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning (Psalm 30:5 KJV).” Going further, he also noted: “Your night may be long. Your eyes full of tears. But KNOW that the Word of God assures that joy comes AFTER weeping.” Hill had to suffer a lot of things in his life. Segregation. Jim Crow. Out and out racism. Poverty. Nevertheless, his life in Christ kept God’s spiritual lights in the ON position and allowed him to not only come THROUGH the darkness of his times but USE that darkness to help others in need by preaching the Gospel and being grown to have a world-wide ministry.

     Hill also wrote two great books. A Savior Worth Having and Victory In Jesus.

     I don’t know where you are today. None of my business. I know where I have been, what I have come through, and the road ahead exists. Nevertheless, no matter what darkness I may face, the Word of God—who IS Jesus Christ—has my back, front, top, bottom, outsides, and insides. One can put a thousand to flight, and two can put ten thousand to flight. As the KJV Bible plainly states: “where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I in the midst of them (Matthew 18:20 KJV).”

     Use His name, baby, CLAIM His name!

     Some may say that they “don’t have time for Jesus.” Life has a way of putting you in positions where you will be introduced to Him through the darkness of your situation. We each have a choice, a destination, and a mission to complete…either for ourselves OR for the glory of God. Some roads are long or short. But EACH one—like life—has an end to be reached. We ONLY have been granted the day before us to complete God’s mission (Heb. 9:27 KJV) for us.

     We don’t know how—or when—the end will be.

     Do you cower in fear of Dark Times, or will you take the light of the blessed hope to get you in, through and above those Dark Times to help others. There IS a Devil out there who wants to put your lights out (John 10:10 KJV). However, there IS the blessed hope who has put forth His hand and stands ready to walk you through your valley. He is just a prayer away (Romans 10:9 KJV).

     What season are YOU in? A setback IS a setup for a comeback!

     Mike Ramey is a Retired Minister, KJV Bible Teacher, syndicated columnist and Bible Prophecy Specialist who lives in Indianapolis, Indiana. He is a Circuit rider of the Funky Electronic Frontier. “The Hope Line” is one of a variety of his columns appearing and abounding in print and cyberspace, written from a biblical, business, and common-sense perspective since 1996. Catch Mike Ramey’s columns on X (Twitter), Substack, Faithwriters.com, LinkedIn and in fine publications like this one! To drop him a line—or a whine—the address is still the same: [email protected]. ©2025 Barnstorm Communications International.