How to Shine in the Darkness
In the right light, at the right time, everything is extraordinary.” – Aaron Ross
The world we live in is filled with both light and darkness. Every day light guides us out of bed and every evening darkness lulls us to sleep. Light emanates from an illuminated source. It can either originate artificially like a lamp, or naturally like the sun. Without light, most things do not grow. Even colors depend on light, and without it they simply do not exist. Without light, we cannot see and are solely left to perception. Light is energy. Light illuminates true sight.
”In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. God saw that the light was good, and He separated it from the darkness.” Genesis 1:1-4
Light was so essential that God added it to His creation on the very first day. He recognized the difference between the emptiness of darkness and the fullness of the light, He created and divided them. On the fourth day God added the sun and the moon to the sky to separate day from night. He also added stars to the sky so that there were dimmer sources of light to guide us in the darkness and to help us measure both time and seasons.
Both light and darkness exist. They were both created by God, but they are not equal. Light tends to seek light and even in the darkness God’s light can be seen. In true darkness nothing can be seen.
Finding Light in the Darkness
Light cancels darkness as it fills empty spaces and illuminates places hidden in dark shadows. They both exist together, but do not hold equal weight. They are the exact opposite in fact. Elohim, the one true God, the living God, the creator, saw light as good, according to Genesis. He made the distinction between the light and the vast, empty darkness despite speaking both into existence.
Light represents goodness, wisdom, and righteousness. It is holy and fills us with knowledge. It gives us hope and grace as it reveals reality in full. Darkness often represents despair, evil, and emptiness. Just like when your eyes adjust to light flooding into the room through the lifted curtain, seeking light can also be painful.
Sometimes we hide from the light because it requires us to make a change and adjust our character or actions. I know at points of my own life I have ran from the light because I thought I was comfortable in the darkness of the unknown.
"We can easily forgive a child who is afraid of the dark, the real tragedy is when men are afraid of the light.” ~Plato
Have you ever hidden in the shadows? How did you escape? Are you still there?
Guidance Through the Darkness
Fires are needy, they are constantly consuming everything that they encounter to continue to feed their energy. Fire is fast, it burns quickly changing from bright and intense flames into black smoke and overpowering darkness. Fire can be very destructive and has also been used for weapons and in warfare. Both controlled and uncontrolled fire can be deadly.
I can’t even imagine what it was like for the Israelite's in the desert to be protected and guided by God’s presence. A pillar of ☁️ by day and a pillar of 🔥 by night?! 😳 A fire unlike any I have ever seen and I’m pretty sure it’s safe to say, not many other people have either.
This pillar of fire didn’t need air or kindling or tending. It’s energy came directly from God. It guided His chosen by day and lit up their path by night. It moved before them and they didn’t move until it did, no matter how long that was: a day, a week, a month and they still followed its action. It’s light lead the way before them. It demanded obedience through its nature alone. The Lord’s fire is also a consuming fire, as He is a jealous God and He alone deserves our praise.
Can you imagine how much easier it would be for us to obey our Father if there was a literal pillar of cloud and fire guiding us? Gods word is light. If we feed our souls with it, it sets us on fire! On the other hand, if focus on our troubles and only trust what we can see, instead of trusting in the Lord we will smolder and soon burn out.
Are you feeding your inner flame? Is your light growing and healthy? It’s never to late, if not!
Oh, the Difference Light Makes
“Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.” ~ Martin Luther King Jr (A man blessed beyond measure.)
Light makes the invisible, visible. It fills the dark corners and exposes them to our sight, both internally and externally. Light isn’t picky. It is an excellent guide to our steps. It protects our path, and keeps us from stumbling in the dark and stubbing our physical and metaphorical toes alike.
While there are things to be learned in the shadows, it’s amazing how once we truly embrace the light, we can never really go back to the darkness. We might slip up and make mistakes, but our heart will nag at us and pull at us to turn back to the light.
God's word is defined as light, just as it is a characteristic of Him. It shines brightly and illuminates right where we are in the moment. It tells us of the past and gives us promises of the future. Yet, God typically only illuminates the steps in front of as as we take them. He waits for us to grow beyond the place where we are standing before shining His light forward and revealing more of the path. More than likely this is because we would be to scared to continue if we could see what He sees. He loves us too much to allow us to suffocate in the darkness and urges us to shift perspective to Him.
”Never the less, there will be no more gloom for those who are in distress. The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light had dawned.” ~ Isaiah 9:1-2
Jesus fulfilled this prophecy, by taking away the gloom and distress of all that have put their faith in Him, by sacrificing Himself for our eternal salvation. We are going to face trials and temptations, but no matter how bad things seem here and now, they are but a slight thing to the Lord. Our faith, love and obedience are refined through our testing, just as much as they give birth to our testimony.
Are you striving to stay in the light? If it’s hard, you are not alone, even Jesus, Himself was tested and He was the word of God! Let us be like Job and follow the light, no matter the darkness in the moment. If you need help finding the light, message me, I would be honored to help you shift perspective.
Embracing the Light : Fleeing the Darkness
“The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not overcome it.” ~John 1:1
Darkness seems to be everywhere we look. Negativity, confusion, chaos, cursing, violence, hate and rage seem to be the budding flavors of the next season of the new normal. Out of the dark season of the corona virus, many people had been awakened to the fact that the security we once felt in our next breath is way more fragile than we truly grasped. Through it all, the Light in the darkness shone brighter, calling us to it, but like John tells us, that even in his time, most of the people standing in the darkness didn’t understand the light.
All of us have made changes and adjustments during this season. Loss and pain gave birth to unity and compassion for a fleeting moment, but as we now move into the next season, hate and destruction rages around the country. Darkness once again sets in and is trying to dig its claws into our nation and our people.
Our world needs healing. Healing from illness. Healing from hate. Healing from a system that has taught us lies. Healing from lies we believe as truth. The real truth is, there is only one real answer. The darkness may be thick and seemingly everywhere, but it cannot overtake the light. We cannot let the darkness continue to take hold of our nation. We are the UNITED States of America. UNITED we need to stand. ONE nation, UNDER God. Embracing the LIGHT together to go after injustice will mean so much more and accomplish so much more than further acts of violence ever could.
We need to strategically attack the cause where it hurts, not hurt ourselves by the effects of our actions. Perhaps if we stopped feeding ourselves the media’s manipulation, and we would better connect with each other, we could begin healing the nation through our people, not urge the system to further suppress us as if we are children in tantrum.
As children of the light, we are called to love. Loving those that are kind is easy, but loving those that hurt us is another thing. We need to stand out in the darkness, shine our light and refuse the enemy the opportunity to snuff it out.
Living in the Light
”I am not judged by the light I have, but the light I refuse to accept.” ~ Oswald Chambers
Living and existing in light is living in wisdom. It’s using our intelligence to consciously shift away from the dark, bad places that entice us and allowing the light to flood the shadows. In order to be in light we must seek the the light.
Culture teaches us to be in an almost constant state of hurry and want. It teaches us that in order to be someone, to be accepted and loved by others and to accomplish anything we must always earn it. We are even taught to judge our own selves based off of what others look like.
Living in the light, in many ways is counter culture. It’s allows us to be at peace and to be free to engage in things that we love, not just labor endlessness. Light is being compassionate to ourselves and to others. Light is love. It is surrendering the things we are trying to control and trusting the intuitive nature of the light. When we live in the light we want to be kind to others. We are satisfied with ourselves and with others and accept them for who they are.
Jesus told his followers “ I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” He freely gave us His light, one that cannot be hidden, and tells us to put it on a stand for all to see and be called to Him. He testified that His Father was His witness. John and Luke both testified to this.
After Jesus healed the blind man, John 9:39 tells us “for judgement I have come into the world, so that the blind will see and those who see will become blind.” When the Pharisees mocked Him about whether or not they were also blind, Jesus responded. “If you were blind, you would not be guilty of sin; but now you claim you can see, your guilt remains.”
Walking in darkness is not sin. Rejecting the light however, is. Darkness is present in the absence of light but if we know the difference, returning to that darkness and turning from the light is also sin. As children of God. We too are called to be light. We are called to seek light, live in light and shine our light before others, so that others praise God through our blessings to them.
Shining Bright from Within
“There is a light within a man of light and he lights up the whole world. If he does not shine he is in the darkness.” ~ The Gospel of Thomas (Not the apostle)
Lord, please continue to let your light continue to shine on us, grow in us, and move through us. Help us embrace your light Father and connect deeper through it. 🙌🙌🏾🙌🏽🙌🏻🙌🏿
️Seek light ☀ ️Find light ☀ ️Embrace light ☀ Emit light ☀ Shine Bright
Heaven help us stay in light!
Keep Smiling 😊 Jesus loves you, this I know.
Message me below, if you need help getting out of the darkness.
#blessed #blessings #loveoneanother #creativity #hope #imagination #loveyourself #healourland #lightinthedarkness #attitudeofgratitude #godisgoodallthetime #jesusislord #dailyinspiration #quotes #aaronrose #plato #martinlutherkingjr #mlkjrquotes #positivevibes #movingforward #decision #fuelyourmind #trainyourmind #decisionmaking #patterns #urgentvsimportant #growthmindset #growth #christianbloggers #opportunity #isaiah #heavenhelpus #findlight#seekinglight #keepmovingforward#changeisgood #seekinglight #livinglight #loveofverhate #unitedwestandividedwefall #lifebeginsattheendofyourcomfortzone #dailyprayers #gracefullythreaded #keepsmiling