MY PERSPECTIVE, Gary Damron
Our local church has experienced two tragic losses in a week's time. As I filled the pulpit Sunday, there was a heavy awareness and sensitivity to many who are struggling. In times of darkness, we need at least two things: a source of light, and an experienced Guide.
An illustration from my earlier years reminded me of a great darkness, literal, inside a cave in Colorado. When our second son graduated from high school, he invited three friends to go with us on a backpacking trip. I'd made some treks into the mountains, one a part of a graduate class, and decided we could incorporate a cave into the outing. The entrance was little more than a vertical culvert, with a ladder and a rope at the bottom, from which we dropped to the cave floor. I'd been in - and out of - that cave several times before, but that day, after venturing further than before, it was with great relief that we found the entrance as our lights went dim.
Sometimes it's difficult to see a way out of difficulties, and often we blame ourselves for getting into the situation in the first place. But one thing I've found in every dark tragedy is that God is light. The aged apostle John wrote, "God is Light, and in Him there is no darkness at all" (1 John 1:5). From the first chapter of Genesis to the last verses of Revelation, the Bible is filled with God's light. Genesis 1:3 says that God spoke the light into being. John wrote that Jesus, the Word, was present at creation: "In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men." And "the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness [does] not overcome" (John 1:4, 5).
He is all the light we need, and His light is available to all of us. The last two chapters of the Bible, revealed to John, tell us about the New Jerusalem. "I saw no temple ..., for the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. And the city has no need of the sun or of the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God has illumined it, and its lamp is the Lamb" (Revelation 21:22-23).
Light shows us the way, and drives away darkness. Think of mold, and how exposing dark, dank places to sunlight can dry up mold. Something similar happens when we follow guidelines for living the way God intended. "If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth; but if we walk in the light as He Himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin" (1 John 1:6-7).
Our world is filled with darkness and many other "D" words: disillusionment, depression, discouragement, destruction, disease, and death. Each of these stems from the deception of an enemy who's been present since before time. People today are obsessed with "likes" and "friends", looking good, feeling good - or even worse, we continue directionless. Nothing will satisfy as long as we live in dark corners, outside the light. We cannot overcome the devil or deception on our own.
But continuing with John's writings, there are two solutions: forgiveness and cleansing. "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness" (1 John 1:9).
So, what does it mean to walk in the light of Jesus? Paul wrote that we can "be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and ... put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth" (Ephesians 4:23-24). He also encouraged us to "walk by the Spirit...for the desire of the flesh is against the Spirit". He bluntly listed the manifestations of the flesh (Galatians 5:16-17, 18-21), then he gave hope and light. "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law" (Galatians 5:22-23).
As opposed to the "Ds" of darkness, we can contrast life in Christ: light, love, life, comfort, courage, support, strength, truth, hope, and guidance. The light of the world is present with us, and is always available for us personally. Whatever we're struggling with, whatever issue our enemy is beating us up with, we can trust God and His mercy, wisdom, and goodness. In 1 Peter 2:9, we're told that we are God's own possession, and He has called us out of darkness into His marvelous light. Jesus is the Light at the end of our tunnel.
