I’m not crazy about the dark.
I struggle driving at night anymore.
I have always feared going blind!
I would claw your eyes out if you put me in a room with no windows and no lights.
Seriously.
Now you know a little more about me. Let’s look at someone else who didn’t like the darkness.
The Apostle Paul is standing before King Agrippa (the same one who says, “Almost, you have persuaded me to become a Christian.”) and explaining to him how he went from persecuting Christians to preaching the Gospel. He relates how he was on the road to Damascus to gather up more Christians and “put them in chains” but then a light came down from heaven, blinding Paul, and he head a voice say, “ ‘I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,’ the Lord replied. ‘Now get up and stand on your feet. I have appeared to you to appoint you as a servant and as a witness of what you have seen and will see of me. I will rescue you from your own people and from the Gentiles. I am sending you to them to open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.’…” (emphasis mine)
Paul was blind for three days until Ananias arrived and told him that he was to be a messenger for the Lord.
In Paul’s darkness, God lit a lamp for him!
This “chief of sinners” was raised at the feet of one of the greatest scholars of that time, “I am a Jew, born in Tarsus of Cilicia, but brought up in this city. I studied under Gamaliel and was thoroughly trained in the law of our ancestors. I was just as zealous for God as any of you are today.” Acts 22:3 NIV
He was zealous for God but did not know Him! He had been in darkness all of his life and was still blind to the Truth, he did not know Jesus until the Lord came and turned on the light!
“In darkness God’s truth shines most clear.”
― Corrie ten Boom, The Hiding Place
In that darkness, God’s light shined through and reached down to the most dangerous man of that time. God transformed the Apostle Paul into the most influential and powerful preacher who ever lived. Something miraculous happened on that road to Damascus and Paul was never the same.
Will we be like Paul, allowing the Light to come in and push away the darkness? Or will we be like those Timothy speaks of in the last days? “…having a form of godliness but denying its power….always learning but never able to come to a knowledge of the truth.” 2 Timothy 3 NIV.
Lord Jesus, help us to allow the Light of Your Truth to shine in our lives! Push back the darkness and fill us with Your love, making us more like You so others can see Your glory!
It is crucial in this dark hour that we, The Church of the Living God, allow the Light of the Holy Spirit to shine through us. We must share this Gospel and not be laden down with the cares of this world. Our most important job that He has given us is to reach the lost. When we are filled with His spirit, others will see that Light and be drawn out of darkness to the One true God, Jesus Christ.
He will light a lamp for you! He will light up your darkness…if you allow Him to.
Light a lamp for me!
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Wonderful post, my friend! The darker this world becomes, the brighter our lights will shine. I think often of the 3rd chapter of John where Jesus was talking to Nicodemus (who came by night to Him!) and Jesus said this, “And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.” We are living in such a sad time, because we are seeing this SO blatantly. This is why there is such a disdain for Christians and the Bible. People LOVE their darkness. They do not want to be reproved. Light exposes darkness, and we, as humans, don’t like our sins revealed, and we don’t like to think that we are going to have to give an account for them. As long as we can hide away in the darkness, as long as everything is “relevant”, as long as we don’t have to hear the light of the truth preached, we can deceive ourselves into thinking we are okay, and there is no accountability. Oh, such thoughts your post has evoked in me today!!! Sorry to ramble on so…I am on a roll (can you tell?) Sending much love to you, sweet friend!!!
Amen. This past fall my husband and I were working on (an staying in) an old farmhouse in the country. A lot of summer cottages are in the area but in the fall the residents go south. At night–no moon because of cloud cover–it was completely dark. I couldn’t see a foot in front of my face. A night light or a small flashlight made all the difference. We, as Christians, have a wonderful opportunity to allow the light of Jesus to shine into a dark world.