The other day I was in the restroom at work and one of my fellow workers came in to wash her hands. It is a one stall restroom so I am pretty sure that she knew someone was in there.....anyway....when she left she turned out the lights on me!! My first instinct was to yell "Hey, I'm in here!" but there are offices on either side of the restroom and I knew that would be a little.....distracting to say the least. I'm a big girl and can handle a little darkness. Well this darkness wasn't like any darkness I have ever experienced. IT WAS PITCH BLACK!! There wasn't even any light coming from under the door. I stood there a minute thinking my eyes would adjust to the darkness and then I could see.....didn't happen.....I blinked a couple of times just to make sure that my eyes were open....yup they were open....nothing but total darkness. It was so dark that I could almost feel it....if that makes any sense. I made my way out of the stall and over to the light switch....light!!! AAAHHH!! From there I went about the rest of my day.
Over the next couple of days and weeks, I have thought about this "darkness" that I found myself in the bathroom. I thought of it in terms of my relationship with God and I was drawn to John 8:12 which says:
" ....I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life."
As I stood in the bathroom, I looked around for some sort of light filtering through the darkness to go toward....to be drawn to!! I wanted....longed for some sort of "light" to help me find my way out of the darkness. It wasn't provided by anyone or anything except from God. The light that leads us is the light that God blesses us with when we name Him Lord of our life. This light shines on us when we walk in His ways....when we love Him with all our hearts....when we allow His light to shine through us into the darkness around us. This is the kind of light that I want to continually be drawn to...a light that will never go out....a light that will shine brighter than any other light.....a light that will shine through the storms of life!!
I have thought a lot about darkness in relation to the sin in my life. In relation to how Satan works. I remember when we lived in Early, Texas we lived out in the country and during the warmer months I would sit out on my swing in the back yard watching the kids play...jump on the trampoline...ride horses....and before we knew it it would be dark. The sun had slowly set and as it grew dark....we would become used to the darkness little by little until we would be surrounded completely by nightfall. Our eyes would have adjusted to the darkness as the sun set and we wouldn't even realize it was as late as it was. I know that all of you have experienced this being outside as the sun sets and night comes upon us!
I began to think about this gradual darkness as sin in our lives. Sin starts out as just a little darker than God's light....we hardly notice that we are being surrounded with darkness and as our eyes and lives adjust to this ever changing darkness and the sin becomes more and more engulfing in our lives. We aren't even aware that we are walking in darkness until one day we wake up and we are surrounded by total darkness. That is exactly how Satan works....he infiltrates our lives until we become adjusted to his darkness. Satan wants us to adjust to his darkness slowly so that we begin to believe that the "darkness" we are walking in is normal and nothing has changed in our lives....but in reality sin and darkness has taken over and we can't see God's light for all the darkness surrounding us. That's how Satan works....he deceives us into believing that we are still walking in the light and that our sin is not darkness at all until we wake up one day and are blind to God's light and we can't see anything but darkness!!
Friends, we have to be aware of the darkness of this world. We have to know that Satan loves sin and darkness and he is constantly making the darkness of this world look good....enticing us to adjust our eyes so that we can't discern Satan's darkness from God's light. I realized through this time of thought and reflection that I can't enjoy the "dimming" of God's light for fear of His brightness. I have to continually be in God's word....keeping my mind, heart and eyes.....searching for God's light in the darkness that we live in. I have to continually seek His light to help me see the sin and darkness that Satan keeps throwing at me. I mess up and go along with the light getting dimmer and dimmer becoming comfortable in my sin and darkness....FRIENDS, THAT IS SATAN WINNING IN MY LIFE AND IN YOURS!! it is God that grabs hold of me and pushes me back toward His light....back into this word....back to where I need to be.
There is a song....I'm not good with song titles or singers but we sing it in my Church and I love it because it reminds me of how God has stuck with me through my darkness. The words are:
Higher than the mountains that I face
Stronger than the power of the grave
Constant through the trial and the change
One thing… Remains
Your love never fails, never gives up
Never runs out on me
On and on and on and on it goes
It overwhelms and satisfies my soul
And I never, ever, have to be afraid
One thing remains
Your love never fails, never gives up
Never runs out on me
In death, In life, I’m confident and
covered by the power of Your great love
My debt is paid, there’s nothing that can
separate my heart from Your great love...
God and His light NEVER LEAVES me.....it is I that pulls away from His light and adjusts to the darkness of this world.
Father, I want to walk in the light as You are in the light! I pray that I will continually search for Your light in the darkness that surrounds me. I love you!
From my corner of the world......seeking God's light!
