Light in Darkness

I am an early riser.  I know I got this from my father.  Not that my mother lays around in bed all hours of the morning, but Daddy was up and ready to move by five.  I am not that far behind him.  Part of my early rising is that it gets me to work early, long before the busyness of the day.  I can think, get work done, and breathe before others are at my door.  At home, it was always a time of quiet before the children would get up.  Even now, when it is just my husband and me, it continues to be ‘me’ time. 

In the winter months, at that early hour, we are typically not woken up by the sun peaking into the room.  It is dark – very dark.  This means driving to work in the dark.  Due to this winter season, it also means driving home in the dark.  Seems as if darkness is all we see.   A ‘winter’ season of life can feel the same way.  We may find that from the time we wake up in the morning until our head hits the pillow at night, there is darkness around us.  Dark thoughts can fill our mind.   We may not be able to see the goodness in any situation or anyone. 

We can look at our home surroundings and feel like nothing is right – the wall should be fixed, the furniture is old, there is nothing new in here. We can look at our spouse and think they can do no right – why can’t they do the dishes, why do I always have to do the chores.  We can look at work and think – they do not know how to run this company, why does my coworker always slack?  The toughest dark thinking can be on us – I will never be good enough, I will never be thin enough, I will never be pretty enough.  Our days can be filled with dark and negative thoughts.

Our verse for today is a wonderful reminder that as Christians, our days AND NIGHTS are not dark.  Our lives are full of light, even in the dark moments.  That light comes from the only one that can bring that light to us, Jesus.  He is the one that can move the dark thoughts into lightness.  It is easy to have our thoughts focus on darkness and negativity.  Yet, Jesus will always move us into the light.  When you step into his Word, when you sit in worship, when you pray, you are getting close to the one who brings us the light.  Our circumstances may not change, but our perspective does.  Our minds can move from dark/negative thoughts to light/positive thoughts.  Asking Jesus to enter our lives in a dark period brings the Light of the World into our minds.

Where Jesus is there is no darkness.  Our homes may be old, but they are filled with memories.  Our spouse may not do chores, but we realize they had a long physical week at work.  Our coworker may not be slacking, they could have ten projects of which we are not aware.  The dark thinking of ourselves?  Remember, we are children of God!  “…now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known.”  1 John 3:2. Let Jesus remove the dark thinking we can have and replace it with His thinking, that of light and love.

Dearest Jesus, take us from dark to light.  Move our thinking from dark moments to ones filled with light and positivity.  As children of God, may our minds be reminded of the true light in our lives, YOU, and may we fill our lives with your light.  Amen