Thursday | Week 10
Jesus: Raising to Life, Preparing for Death
Have you ever been in a place so dark that you became disoriented once you came into the light?
When we were first married, we lived in Duncan, Oklahoma, a mid-sized rural town in the southwest part of the state with many stoplights but only one Wal-Mart. In February 2009, we were hit with a significant ice and snowstorm that shut our electricity down for fourteen straight days. We knew it was coming and were prepared with food, water, and a small generator.
We thought it would be a time of rest and catching up so we were committed to riding it out. However, we failed to take into consideration how short the daylight hours were and just how dark it would get during the night. Our generator was powerful enough to either run a heater or a lamp but not both. We had a few candles but I still remember the strain that the darkness put on my eyes. During the days we would go outside to try and feel the sun on our face, but the coldness only reminded us of the dark to come. I dreaded the dark evenings each day as we tried to remember what life was like before the power went out.
Finally, when the ice began to thaw and slowly the town stores reopened and infrastructure was restored, the lights came back on one night around dinnertime. It was a glorious time and we praised God’s faithfulness by running room to room turning on the lights. The power was restored and we, in turn, were reminded of what it means to live in the light of Christ.
Those dark nights reminded me of my life before Christ; and although my faith was not shaken, I was reminded of the dark void I once felt. In John 11-12, Jesus draws several comparisons between time and light. Thank goodness that Jesus provides the light that we need to show us The Way! There are still dark nights, but what if by limiting our ability to have light, Jesus is illuminating only what is important?!
“I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness” (John 12:46).