This Favor Fridays with Tony™ — on the 13th day of Black History Month — we honor the favor that turns survival into proclamation, and endurance into testimony. Today, we spotlight Frederick Douglass, a man who understood that sometimes favor doesn’t just free you — it commissions you.

“The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” (John 1:5) That single truth sits at the center of Christmas. The Light (Jesus) did not wait for darkness to retreat. It entered it — fully, deliberately, lovingly.

Today marks 11 years since my father passed. Yesterday, I stood in Memphis and attended the funeral of my cousin. Life continued. Faith remained. But the weight was present. There are moments when grief doesn’t scream—it sits. It doesn’t demand attention—it simply exists. And faith doesn’t erase those moments. Faith walks through them. This message isn’t about loss taking over. It’s about faith that carries us through loss—steady, grounded, and unbroken.

Sometimes the Commander allows the battlefield to grow dark so He can give you a new kind of sight. Every warrior must learn night vision. Because anyone can see God in sunshine — but it takes a trained soldier to recognize Him in shadows. Dark seasons are not proof of defeat. They are proof of development. They are invitations to deeper vision, sharper discernment, and greater dependence on the Commander’s voice.

God often goes quiet right before the breakthrough, right before the miracle, right before the strike. When the Commander stops speaking, it is not a punishment — it is a positioning. He is not ignoring you…He is preparing you. He is not distant…He is drawing you deeper. He is not silent because He is uninvolved…He is silent because He is working behind the scenes, beneath the surface, and beyond your sight. Silence is not the absence of God — it is the atmosphere before His