The Light in a Dark World

Dear Reader,

 

There are times that this world can be downright malicious and nasty. Life is not easy. When the skies get cloudy it is hard to see the sunshine, but it is still there. In those times the beauty of life can be darkened by the problems of existence. As you focus on the glitches of our existence the grey skies get darker and nothing is clear. There is only one thing that overcomes the darkness, which is light. Sometimes we get so overly focused on the darkness that the light becomes dim. When we direct our focus to the light the darkness suddenly doesn’t seem so dark. You see, if we will only focus on our problems our life becomes dark and empty. When we focus on the light than that is when we can really start shining.

 

The Bible speaks of ‘light” several times. Jesus tells us He is the “light of the world,” in John 8:12, He continues to say, “Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” We must focus on the true light if we want to overcome darkness and that light is Jesus. Webster’s dictionary defines light simply as “something that makes vision possible.” When we sit in the darkness of our problems we very rarely are able to see the way out. It is only possible to see the exit sign when light shines through it. Jesus is the exit sign to our problems of this existence. Jesus doesn’t want us to simply exist but to live. He wants to give us life and that life comes when we chose to focus on Him rather than our problems. His light is the way out. Once we recognize that Jesus is the light than we will never walk in darkness, we will walk in the light of life.

 

John powerfully explains in John 1:4-5 “In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it.” If you open up a newspaper, turn of the nightly news, or sign in to Facebook you will most likely find darkness. The darkness of this existence will always surround us no matter if you have Christ in your heart or not. The distinction between those who have the Christ burned in their hearts and those who are detached from Christ is light vs darkness. When we have Christ branded in our hearts we become His light. So when the darkness surrounds us we shine even brighter because Christ’s light reflects off of us into the deep darkness of the world. As Christians it is important to recognize that through Christ we are the light in this world, a beacon for other souls. Jesus says as Christians we are the light of the world. In Matthew 5:14-16, Jesus uses a metaphor to help us easily understand what it means to be the light, “You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. “Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. “In the same way let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.” We fight darkness with light. This light is in becoming like Christ. The light of the world becomes us when we lay our selfishness aside and fill our souls with Faith, Hope, and most importantly Love. We must be filled with Faith. Faith that the darkness of this existence will not overcome us and that God will remain true to Word to deliver us from this dark world. We must be filled with Hope that this world will be the closest to Hell we will ever be. We must believe and have great hope that God has a great plan already in place for this world. Most of all we must be filled with great Love. To truly be like Christ and be the light in boundless darkness we must Love like Christ. Loving like Christ is not an easy undertaking. It requires the sheading of everything that we are, this is a lifelong process. When we demonstrate Patients, Kindness, and Gentleness, we can see Jesus’s Love flow threw us. This Love is a brilliant guiding light, guiding others to the light that is our Lord Jesus Christ.

 

My call is for my brothers and sisters that are in Christ to shine their light as bright as possible. This world continues to get darker; however, our light continues to get brighter. So Shine! Shine Bright!