light
He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God.”
John 3:19-21
When I was very young, my family went to see the movie E.T. It terrified me. I had nightmares for months. I mean vivid nightmares about E.T. being under my bed, in my closet, in my toy box and many other places. Because I was so afraid, my parents left my door cracked so that a small wedge of light could be seen from my bed. I developed a belief that as long as I was touching that small ray of light, no monsters could get to me. If I had to go to the restroom, I would get a running start on my bed and leap as far as I could to land in the light. If by chance I awoke after my parents had turned out the lights, I would not move…I would scream as loud as I could…“MOMMMM!!!…..DAAADD!!!” Over and over until they were frantically running to make sure I was not being mauled by a wild animal or some such emergency!
This morning in my devotional time, I read the verse above from the book of John. While it is not a total parallel, the whole time I read it, all I could think of is the feeling of safety I felt while in the light. The scriptures call Jesus the light. I know that when I screw up royally, as we all can, there are times that all I want to do is run from the light. That pure light of holiness can be painfully exposing.
While there is a certain vulnerability for being in the light of a Holy God, there is also a great comfort for those who are walking in the light. Just like Proverbs says, a man who walks in integrity walks securely; a man or woman who lives life in honesty before God and others has nothing to hide.
For me walking in the light means walking with integrity before Jesus. It means keeping my self in communion with the spirit of God and allowing Him to search my heart. This is a practice that I try to do daily, sometimes several times a day. Being still before Him and allowing Him to expose the darkness that lurks in this desperately deceitful heart of mine. This keeps me walking securely.
How many times do we as believers avoid the light of His truth and instead seek to hide in the shadows of shame, guilt and deception? How many times do we trade the loving intimacy with the Father for isolation from our only source of peace? How many times do we allow the fear of being known keep us from coming to the light? How many times do we fail to call out to our “DADDD!” for fear of not being answered or rescued?
Don’t let your voice be silenced! CRY OUT TO Him! Don’t hide in the shadows! Come out and allow Him to love you. Allow Him to strip away the chains of shame and guilt. Allow Him to remove the blinders of denial from your eyes! Come out and be embraced by THE light. There is safety in the light. The monsters from your closet of secrets cannot consume you when you step into the light.
Hope said,
January 22, 2008 at 7:32 pm
Darkness sometimes has a false sense of comfort. Going into the light means we actually have to move and for some, moving is frightening. I’ve learned the hard way that nothing about the light could begin to measure the pain of being in the dark.
On the ET side of things, when my first born was a tot, I watched ET. My son was too young, but I kept going around the house saying “ET phone home.” I put a poster of the little fella on the back of his bedroom door. I thought he was cute. Every night for 4 nights he started to cry every time I shut the door. On the fourth night, I closed the door but stayed inside with him. He looked up at me and said, “ET go home!” I took the poster down that night.
heatherblankenship said,
January 22, 2008 at 8:33 pm
Hope- thanks for the comment. Yes, darkness has a definite sense of comfort. I have since learned that the pain of staying the same must outweigh the pain of change for us to do go the light!
Oh, and ET…definitely evil!
mandythompson said,
January 23, 2008 at 2:46 pm
so true…..
lorawilliams08 said,
January 24, 2008 at 2:00 pm
well spoken