Dwell: Seek God’s Face at HomeSýnishorn

Night Lights

Whoever walks in the dark does not know where they are going. Believe in the light while you have the light, so that you may become children of light.

John 12:35–36

I love night lights.

I have one that looks like Marie Antoinette, the light streaming through her large bird’s-nest hairstyle. A sleek black-and-white Paris skyline night light graces my guest bathroom. I have tiny, pink track lights in my own bathroom, and under-the-counter lights shine softly in my kitchen. When my daughter moved into her own home, I bought her a night light with bright red poppies, which matched her style.

Night lights are sweet. They say, Here, don’t trip. Don’t be afraid. They give enough light to show you there is nothing to fear, but not so much as to startle you.

Night lights are gentle and comforting, and they bring a bit of hope into dark places. When you wake up in the dark, they help orient and reassure you. There’s a reason toy makers are now inserting night lights into stuffed animals; when little ones squeeze a bear or a baby doll, a bulb goes on, providing comfort and light at the same time.

We believers are night lights, too. We carry within us the greatest light the world has ever known, the one who created light and separated it from the darkness in a physical sense as well as in a spiritual, eternal sense.

When we walk into a room, we dispel a little of the mist and fear by our presence and the presence of the one we carry with us (Matthew 5:14–16). We take the hands of those who don’t know the way and walk with them, so they don’t stumble, so they can see where they can safely walk. Our Light helps orient and reassure both us and those we come into contact with.

You may be a Marie Antoinette style, or you may be a poppy or a skyline or the world’s softest teddy bear that everyone wants to 'love on', and that’s okay. Your night light is just right no matter what it looks like.

*This devotion is taken from Day 55 of Sandra Byrd’s book, Dwell: 90 Days at Home with God.

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