…the people dwelling in darkness have seen a great light…
Darkness versus Light. The battle of the ages.
But how could there possibly be any real battle, when light is immeasurably more powerful than darkness? The smallest flicker of light has darkness trembling with fear.
Both darkness and light are tenacious and competitive.
And eternal.
If one can understand darkness…
Darkness uses its mysterious ways to lure and entrap. It boasts of hidden treasures, obscure facts, and shrouded meaning. It advertises the unknown and entices the inquisitive; the curious to venture past the warning and danger signs, beyond the rope separating the shallow end of the pool with the deep. It bids each of us to its eternal lair.
Darkness calls to the skeptical, the doubtful, and the unsettled one, “Come, ask, seek, knock, explore.” But darkness never reveals, never fulfills, never completes the enigma. It’s like a giant puzzle without a solution. Like a maze in which, when entered, one is lost forever.
Darkness dwellers who have adjusted to the world of shadows tell of all the wondrous things to behold. In the darkness. In the fog. Things which can’t be seen for what they truly are.
People become accustomed to darkness.
In the land of darkness there are no rules about coloring within the lines, no boundaries or fences with “No Trespassing” signs posted, and no defined right or wrong. Darkness keeps the shades drawn and the curtains closed over the windows of one’s soul.
It promises happiness, but cannot deliver contentment. Intimacy is touted as a product of darkness, yet intimacy without light is impossible.
Darkness is the land of groping, of stumbling, of half-truths and fuzzy images. It is the place of the hope-so’s, the want-to’s, and all the misconstrued ideas about light.
But if one can really understand light…
Light never entices, it simply reveals.
God is light. In his light we see, we know, we experience true intimacy. With God, with one another, and even with ourselves. We can know as we are known.
Light came into the realm of darkness and conquered it using only three things.
Wood, nails, and truth.
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” (John 1:1-5 ESV)
“Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” (John 8:12 ESV)
“…God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.” (1 John 1:5 ESV)
With only a decision one can step from darkness to light.
But darkness still promises a world of pleasures and treasures, though light reveals what darkness really is, what it truly contains.
Darkness is the absence of light. The absence of truth, revelation, and real intimacy. It is the place of broken promises; temptation without fulfillment.
A story to be read, without any words.
No meaning, no future, no life. No God.
So why do so many people choose darkness? Is it because they can’t see, can’t hear, can’t know?
Which have you chosen?
Jan Grace 