Light
Issues – June 2023 – Grace & Truth Magazine
Light
“Ouch!” I screamed as I crashed into the wall and landed hard on the floor.
It was about 2:30 in the morning, and I woke up with a deep thirst. In the pitch dark, I reached over to my cardboard box that doubled as an end table for my cup of water. It was empty. I now had to get up and go to the sink. I wanted to be careful as I have a very sensitive toe. It has been bleeding every day for a year. Any bump or pressure on it sends jolts of pain up and down my whole body.
Being that the cell was cold and dark, I wasn’t too excited to jump up and go get water, but I was thirsty. I had two options: unclip my book light and use it to illuminate the way, or go to the sink in the dark. How hard could it be? The cell is not big. I know what the cell looks like; I will not get lost. Plus, I didn’t want to locate my Bible and then unclip my light. I was lazy.
My plan was simple. I would slip out from under my sheets, walk three steps to the sink and drink water. What I didn’t plan on was for a silly mouse to be running around. Although I could not see in the dark, I assume the mouse could. I don’t know what the mouse was thinking, but as soon as my foot hit the floor, the mouse ran into my sore toe! I screamed in pain, lost my balance, crashed into the wall and landed on the floor. Thankfully my cellmate is a deep sleeper.
After a few minutes of holding my head, rubbing my toe and feeling humiliated, I got up. Back on my bunk I reminded myself how all this could have been avoided if I had unclipped my book-light and used it to light my way. The mouse would probably have been scared away, too.
During the day, the sun lights our path. At night, lamps and other things help to illuminate the way. This reminds me of how too many of us try living our lives in the dark, thinking we can live as Christians without regard for the guidance received through the Spirit (Jn. 16:13-14). We convince ourselves we know the way, that there is no need to pray about a matter since the issue is an everyday thing. “I can handle this,” we tell ourselves. “Why bother the Light of the universe – the Lord Jesus Christ – with this little thing in my life.”
The problem with that way of thinking is that no matter how common the issue or how small the circumstance may seem, in the dark there is a potential to stumble. The Devil roams all over, roaring like a lion, seeing whom he can hurt or cause to stumble and fall (see 1 Pet. 5:8). We need to stop being spiritually lazy and allow Him who lives within us to light our paths. By allowing the Light to shine in all we do, we will avoid landing on the floor of depression and failure. The Light is good!
God’s servant will not be without light in life’s darkness if he studies God’s revelation of Himself and His ways in His Word. The Bible is a faithful expression of God’s character. The psalmist spoke of testimonies, precepts, statutes, commandments, judgments, word and ordinances. These terms demonstrate that God has taken the time to reveal His thoughts as well as Himself to us.
Psalm 119:11 (NKJV) declares, “Your Word I have hidden in my heart, that I might not sin against you.” We must meditate on God’s Word and delight ourselves in it, not forgetting what He tells us there. May He open our eyes that we may see “wondrous things” from His Word (v.18).
By Adrian Torres
Our God is light: and though we go across a trackless wild,
Our Savior’s footsteps ever show the path for every child. —Mary Bowley (1813-1856)
God has graciously made the path of His will known for all His saints. John Nelson Darby wrote: “Light divine surrounds your going.” There are difficulties, for the Scriptures recognize these as “perilous times” (2 Tim. 3:1 KJV), but the saints are in the light, however feebly they apprehend it. The truth is given to enable them to meet the difficult times. “The true light now shineth” (1 Jn. 2:8). Difficulties do not make the day dark; they should stimulate those who are “in the light” (1:7) to overcome them in faith.
—H. J. Vine (adapted from StemPublishing.com)