Moments of Darkness

 

I woke up in the middle of the night and knew that something was wrong, something seemed to be “out of place”. I sat in bed for a few moments and realized there was no humming of the ceiling fan, no gentle rumble of the air conditioning, no dim light from the electronic devices.  I got out of bed and opened the blind.  There it was as I had suspected – pitch black darkness.  The power had gone off.  I checked other neighbors’ homes that tend to have a dimly lit outside light on and nothing. 

In that moment, it was eerily dark and quiet.  Even the stars were not shining as the clouds had overtaken them.  No light, only total darkness.  Although I knew the light of day was just a few hours away, it seemed a bit bleak to look out and not see a glimpse of light.

My mind immediately took me to many nights in my life when there did not seem to be any light.  The power may not have gone off, but the circumstances seemed to leave me in total darkness, not seeing any light at all – similar to this evening of no power.  My journey with cancer had many dark nights.  The chemo, for some reason, gave me insomnia.  I would be up at all hours of the night – exhausted but unable to sleep.  Those nights seemed incredibly dark, not knowing what the future would hold and if I would be able to see my babies grow up – their proms, their graduations, their weddings, their babies.  My journey of my first marriage ending had many dark nights, playing over and over in my head why this was not working.  There were many others that had me experiencing total darkness. 

Many of us have had these experiences, wondering if we would feel any light in a time of our lives when only darkness seemed to surround us.  This incredible verse today provides us the vision that our lives are not lived in total darkness, no matter how dreary the future seems to be.  We get to live our lives knowing that we are never alone in our darkness.  We have a savior who came into our world so that our darkness would always have a beacon of light.  We believe and we are blessed. We believe and we are saved.  We believe and we have eternal light.

Jesus came into this world so that we would not have to live in darkness.  His “power” is always on!  His light is always shining.  His beacon is always visible.  His light is for everyone who believes.  When our world is dark, and it will be, we have the One who shines among the darkness.  With this assurance, we know that our dark world will pass, and the light will once again shine, to us and from us.  Have faith my friends, simple faith, that the Lord who died on the cross for our sins is the same Lord who shines in our darkness.  May your faith live in Jesus’ light.

Dearest Jesus, how grateful we are that our darkest nights can turn into the lightest of days because of you.  With simple faith in the great I AM, we are able to walk through the dark towards the light that only you can shine.  May I remember this during dark times and know that you are always with me.  In your bright name I pray, Amen!