Names of God: Light of the World

Anyone else scared of the dark?

My hand is held high!

I am sooooo afraid of the dark.

I do not sleep without a nightlight on.

I have candles and matches everywhere in the house.

I carry a flashlight with me in the car.

I do whatever it takes to try to make sure that I am never

left in the dark with no way to get to light.

Lately it seems as if the world has gone dark.

Maybe it has always felt that way to

 people of every generation.

I just know that it seems that almost

 everywhere we look today

we see darkness,

hurts, hatred, sickness,

even the seemingly small snide comments 

on social media that are just not kind.

It sometimes feels like the darkness is just too much.

And it seems that there is no way to get to light.

Sometimes it all feels paralyzing.

Not only do we find ourselves in the dark but a pitfall for most of us is choosing to continue to sit in it. We sit in the dark and complain about why it is so dark. I am not saying that there aren't times when we need to sit with wise council and discuss situations. I am saying that it does NO good to sit in the darkness and simply complain about it. Complaining in the dark only adds to the darkness. 

So what do we do when it feels like it's all closing in?

What do we do when we know we need light

or find ourselves in situations where we should

 be the one bringing the light?

JESUS

Jesus is always the answer.

In John 8:12 Jesus says,

"I AM the light of the world."

Jesus is and has all that we will ever need

and usually in the dark, it's a need for comfort or direction.

Jesus is the One who brings us complete comfort.

HE is the One who totally heals our hurts and sickness.

HE is the One who eases the sting of unkindness.

HE is the One who knows the way we should go.

In order to get out of the darkness, 

we HAVE to keep our eyes on HIM,

we have to stop trusting in the things of this world

(from nightlights to governments)

to provide that which only HE can give us.

We also must keep our eyes on HIM

so that when it's needed we can lead others to the light.

We can't lead others to the light when we are not pointing them in the right direction or simply sitting in the dark ourselves.

So we keep our eyes on HIM.

HE gives us HIS light,

HIS comfort and HIS direction.

And as HE does that, we are then able to take HIS light into the darkness that is around us.

It may not be an instant beacon or a raging fire,

maybe it's one small flame,

one tiny spark.

one kind word,

one small act of grace or mercy.

But let's not forget that ANY light 

will begin to drive away darkness.

So let's take baby steps, 

eyes on HIM,

get up and turn on the light!