Time to Share a Few Lines – When Darkness Falls Too Early

Time to continue my quest to share lyrics that never made it as songs or poems that simply sat in my files.

This lyric is especially dear to me. Several years ago my sister-in-law passed away due to complications with a liver transplant. She had only been married to my brother a few years, and it was hard to process God’s good purposes in those days of premature grief and loss. Ahna was young and full of life, yet gone before her days seemed half-spent. We didn’t have any profound answers. Yet I still remember God’s grace supernaturally supporting and sustaining our family through the prayers of his people.

It wasn’t until several years later, one wintry Pennsylvania day when gray clouds blanketed the sky before noon had arrived, that the words came to me: “when darkness falls too early.” That’s what it feels like to lose someone you love too soon. Yet, even in the sorrow of grief and tears, God comforts us with his presence, his grace, and the promise that his wisdom will work all things together for good. He has proven it on the cross, so we can trust it will be just so in our lives. It is this hope I sought to capture in this poem, dedicated to Ahna. ~ CP

When Darkness Falls Too Early
 
When darkness falls too early,
And winter comes too soon,
When youth is like a dreary day
Whose light is gone by noon,
When grief extends its shadow
And bleeds into the night,
We pray for grace,
For only God knows why.
 
When darkness falls too early
We cannot comprehend
The reason for our suffering,
The purpose of Your plan.
You bottle up our teardrops;
You feel our midnight cry!
For on the cross
You also wondered, “Why?”
 
When darkness falls too early,
It cannot stop the light.
Behind the veil of black and gray
The heavens are alive!
The soul at rest in Jesus
And gathered to the sky,
Beholds the One
Who knows the reason why.

Copyright 2026 Cameron Pollock