The Darkness

It was about 9:00 last night and I had just finished reading a book to the kids. It was bedtime. Susan was about to say their prayers and tuck them in when there was a loud pop outside and immediately the electricity went off. A transformer had blown. Lynzie nearly lost it. She didn’t know what had just happened but she knew it was out of the ordinary. Colton was a little bit confused too. He didn’t want to go to sleep in the dark; which was funny to me because he goes to bed every night in the dark. The difference was that it was dark and there was nothing we could do about it. There was no light at all.

Have you ever been in utter darkness? I mean the kind of darkness that you can’t see your hand right in front of your face? It’s an eerie darkness. It’s an uncomfortable darkness. It’s a darkness that is heavy and thick and it seems that it is hard to breathe. If you have ever experienced this kind of darkness, it makes you appreciate light; any kind of light. It’s just nice to have light.

In the first chapter of the Gospel of John, the apostle describes Christ as light and, in contrast, he describes the world as darkness. Jesus came to earth to shine the light into an otherwise dark world. He said in John 3:19-21, “This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God." (NIV)

Evil lurks in the darkness. Uncertainty finds home in the darkness. But, there is comfort to the light that pierces the darkness, causing it to fade away. When the electricity went off, Colton immediately wanted his lantern. There was a sigh of relief in his voice when I was able to grope around to find the flashlight and then find and hand him his lantern. There was a peace in the house again when we were able to find a little bit of light to guide our way.

After the kids went to bed, Susan and I didn’t sit in the darkness either. I went through the house and lit a number of candles so that there would be a little bit of light by which to see. I kept a flashlight nearby. There is little comfort in the darkness, but there is great comfort in even a little bit of light.

There are so many people who are sitting in the dark. Our world is full of sin; the lies, deceptions, and manipulations of Satan. I am so very grateful for the light that Jesus exposed to me; the opportunity for him to live in me and to be free from the darkness of sin.

“God is light; in him there is no darkness at all.” (1 John 1:5 NIV)