It does not get Dark, we just lose Light.

I felt led to follow up on our last Proverb due to some of the feedback I received. I want to discuss “Light” and “Darkness” just a little longer. I will pick up on Proverbs 13 after this Devo.

"Erma Bombeck tells how she was sitting in church one Sunday when a small child turned around and began to smile at the people behind her. She was just smiling, not making a sound. When her mother noticed, she said in a whisper, `Stop that grinning--you're in church,' gave her a swat, and said, `That's better!' Erma concluded that some people come to church looking like they had just read the will of their rich aunt and learned that she had given everything to her pet hamster!"

Sadly, this funny story is true for many. What occurs is a misunderstanding about communing with God. (Worship) Moving toward God is always moving into the Light, which should be an exhilarating experience! However, when seeking to meet with God, if we do not do it through Faith, we will miss the Light! God was so committed to communing with us that He took on flesh!

Jn 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. 4 In him was life, and that life was the light of men. 5 The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it.

There are three words used here that are essential to comprehend if we desire to commune with our Creator.

φῶς phṓs {foce}  Light, God is light because light has the extremely delicate, subtle, pure, brilliant quality; of truth and its knowledge, together with the spiritual purity associated with it; that which is exposed to the view of all.

σκοτία skotía {skot-ee'-ah} Darkness, the darkness due to lack of light; metaphor - used of ignorance of divine things, and its associated wickedness, and the resultant misery

καταλαμβάνω katalambánō {kat-al-am-ban'-o} Understood; to lay hold of so as to make one's own, to obtain, attain to, to take into one's self; to seize upon, take possession. ^[1]

Jesus said:  

John 4:23–24 “But an hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for such people the Father seeks to be His worshipers. ²⁴ “God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”

When we approach God through Faith, our spirit is seeking Him; still, it must be based on Truth. If we consider the three words we saw in John, we will help ourselves in embracing a deeper walk with our Lord.

* Light - That which is Truth!

* Darkness - Ignorance of that which is Truth!

* Understanding - That which opens our spiritual eyes to Truth!

Once in a “Peanuts” cartoon Lucy puts her hands on her hips and says, `You, Charlie Brown, are a foul ball in the line drive of life! You're in the shadow of your own goal posts! You are miscue! You are three putts on the eighteenth green! You are a seven-ten split in the tenth frame! You are a dropped rod and reel in the lake of life! You are a missed free throw, a shanked nine iron, and a called third strike! Do you understand? Have I made myself clear?

John 1:1-5 is that clear about the Light. It exposes the problem we fallen humans have.

“The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it.”

John goes on to point out that we prefer the Darkness:

John 3:19–21 “This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil. ²⁰ “For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. ²¹ “But he who practices the truth comes to the Light, so that his deeds may be manifested as having been wrought in God.”

πονηρός ponērós {pon-ay-ros'} Evil in a moral or spiritual sense, wicked, malicious, mischievous. ^[2]

Evil does not always equal “a Hitler!” However, compared to God we are evil, we prefer to remain ignorant to what we are doing wrong. Why do we do that? Deep in our heart, which God made, we will know that we are accountable and will have to change.

Moving into the “Light” requires Faith and demands honesty! This is why self-examination is so important, because as we allow God to examine our hearts He can expose any darkness we have.

An easy example is our idea of “forgiveness.” Jesus exhorts us to forgive others as He forgives us. If we are willing to live in the Light, God will show us when we have fallen short of that. Unforgiveness is one of the strongest cancers to the soul Darkness uses. Many times we have “learned to live” with the hurt, yet have not really forgiven. 

It reminds me of an old Irish Prayer I heard:

May those who love us, love us; And those who don't love us. May God turn their hearts; And if He doesn't turn their hearts, May He turn their ankles, So we'll know them by their limping!

If you have a relationship with God you have come into the Light, yet we all still have that Dark fallen nature that tries to hide from the light.

Our sins concerning relationship with our Lord are forgiven and gone, however, the sins we now struggle with affect our fellowship and friendship with God. Paul makes it clear in Romans 7 we have a new nature that desires to walk in the Light, but our old nature battles for power.

John stated it clearly:1 John 1:6–7 If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth; ⁷ 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.

If we walk (how we live daily) in Darkness, we will empower our enemies greatest  weapon…discouragement, which leads to lack of Faith!

In that condition not only can you lose sight of the light at the end of the tunnel, you can reach the point where you do not even see the tunnel.

The So What: Write down as many areas as you can where you are discouraged - There will be darkness there. Go to the Light and seek for understanding. (Pray, Read the Word, and seek godly counsel.) Call someone this week that you think is discouraged and be a light bearer for them.

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^[1] Zodhiates, S. (2000). The complete word study dictionary: New Testament (electronic ed.). Chattanooga, TN: AMG Publishers.

^[2] Zodhiates, S. (2000). The complete word study dictionary: New Testament (electronic ed.). Chattanooga, TN: AMG Publishers.