Hey! Who Turned Out the Lights?
(5/24/19) One of the earliest fears for a child is the fear of the dark. They don't even have to be told, it just sets in, and can make itself quite comfortable if allowed. I have to admit, even up into my twenties, I would find myself walking just a little faster from the darkness of my bedroom. Avoiding the darkness is innately within us. But what is it about the dark?
The inability to see what's going on around us and, although we may fully understand there's nothing there, you don't have to stand in the darkness too long before your thoughts can run wild. Typically, one can just flip the switch, but what about when you can't?
I live in Oklahoma, and we've had storms...like really severe storms...storms that, on occasion, can knock the power out. There is no sense of panic and disorientation quite like suddenly having all your lights turned off. Stumbling into each other, fumbling through drawers and searching under furniture in attempt to find the flashlight that your 3-year-old just had a few days ago.
"But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin." 1 John 1:7 We were never meant to go about life in the dark, to stumble through it with no real direction. But unfortunately that's how many Christians are living...why? Because they are unknowingly in the dark. Picture yourself on a dark street, you are standing under the street light, where you're safe, but you still have an enemy that is out to get you. Your enemy is trying to pull you from the light to the darkness, so he can steal from you...your attention, your health, your money, whatever he can get his grimy little hands on. If he can get you into the darkness, even for a moment, he will unleash his attack in attempt to take something from you. And just like natural darkness, you are at it's mercy, you can't see your hand in front of your face much less anything that means you any harm. But on the flip side, if you stay in the light, you will see him coming and thus able to thwart his devices.
We are to stay in the light as He is in the light, how? By living by His Word, not just on Sunday, but every day.
Moving from light to darkness is not like many of us think. We have this preconceived notion that it's done with eyes wide open, when that's not usually the case. How does the enemy lure us into the dark? He doesn't start by launching his greatest attack, like I mentioned before he seeks to slowly lure you from the light...with everyday distractions or even with busy-ness, anything that will keep your from further developing your relationship with your Father. One day of "Oh, I don't have time for that today, God understands, I'm busy", can lead to another...then another, and just like a power outage, you can find yourself in the dark, scrambling for your Bible, searching for that scripture needed for what you're going through, or crying out for mercy to the One you haven't intimately communed with for months now. Is there a way out? Absolutely! But it is so much easier if you just do what he said and stay in the light.
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