About believing in spite of the darkness�

Acts 7:59 While they were stoning him, Stephen prayed, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit." 60 Then he fell on his knees and cried out, "Lord, do not hold this sin against them." When he had said this, he fell asleep. (NIV)

Darkness has no power over light. Darkness is the absence of power. Because darkness has no power over light, light always defeats the darkness. Although Christ died, He came back on the third day and defeated the darkness of death. When Stephen asked God to forgive the sin of those who were stoning him to death, Stephen called down the light into the darkness taking his life. To believe in spite of the darkness, no matter what kind of darkness we face, we must have a clear understanding of the power play between the light and the darkness. The darkness depends upon our being blind in the darkness as the darkness tries to exert power over us while we are in the darkness. When Stephen died as a result of being stoned, one would think the darkness had won out over Stephen's life. However, in Christ, we know Christ won out over Stephen's life because Stephen died only in the body and not in the spirit. In every battle we face with the darkness, in all its forms and in all its ways of hurting us, we must see the truth. The truth is Christ and His light are victorious forever.