Every Day with Jesus: Faith for the JourneySample

Light & Darkness

‘This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light and in God there is no darkness at all.’ 1 John 1:5

Light and darkness offer a complete contrast. Light makes everything plain to see; darkness prevents me from seeing my surroundings. Like chalk and cheese, the difference in both taste and nourishment is self-evident. 

Every new dawn dispels the darkness. The sun rises and bathes us with fresh light. There’s also a metaphor here. The night hours are often those in which our deepest fears stalk us and stir our deepest anxieties. 

Sleeplessness becomes our companion. Our minds wrestle with how to solve the insoluble. Our emotions are disturbed by such anxieties. We stumble into a new day, relieved that the dawn restores us to our normal daily demands. Familiar routine momentarily quels our inner fears. 

There are always sufficient terrors in our tomorrows to scare us. Today I have no sure answers for tomorrow. In making provisions for my future fears, I’ve little guarantee they will prove appropriate. 

Learning to live in God, our Light, is healthy. Although I have no power over the arrival of the dawn or the departure of the day, I’ve learnt to live comfortably within these boundaries. I pursue what I am to do and give it my best shot. Unresolved issues remain, but these lie beyond my power, so I must learn to live and be comfortable within the tension they create. 

Yet, in acknowledging my greatest anxieties, I bring them to the Light, and so disempower them. I acknowledge that where I have no control, God retains that control and God’s provision will finally be made available, for my good and the good of all. 

Failure to live in the Light can only condemn me to live within the twilight, neither light nor darkness. A space in which my vision is forever impaired and my fears fed. 

Something to Consider: What have you buried in the dark cellars of your life that is best brought into God’s light? 

An Action to take: Set your alarm so you can get up and observe the dawn; meditate on God’s Light driving back the darkness of your own anxieties and fears. 

A Prayer to make: ‘Lord, even though I walk through the darkest valley, I fear no evil; for you are with me; your rod and your staff – they comfort me, both now and forever.’