"A Light That Shines"

     Wherever in this world it seems that a gloom of night enshrouds and envelops, the assurance of the Apostle John pierces through the veil to reveal a greater reality...

    "The Light shineth in darkness" (John 1:5).

    Venture to venues of pain, hurt, and extremes of agony, and the Light will be shining in darkness.  Journey to arenas of conflict, bitterness, hatred, and even war, and the Light will be shining in darkness.  Gaze into hearts long aching, and now breaking, and the Light will be shining in darkness.  Visit the graveside where loved ones weep in their loss, and the Light will be shining in darkness.  Most importantly, make a pilgrimage of the heart to the bloody foot of a savage cross, where the Hope of the ages breathes His last gasp in order to send His spirit homeward, and the Light will be shining in darkness.  Ever and always, everywhere and in all things, the Light shineth in darkness.

   The prince of darkness plys his characteristic trade wherever God gives him rein, only to see a brilliant moon illuminating the night sky.  It cannot be otherwise, for the Light of the world, the Lord Jesus Christ, is risen from the dead.  Glorious illumination glimmers and gleams from His empty tomb, and it always will.  Eyes of faith see it, hearts of faith affirm it, spirits of faith expect it, and the God of our faith reveals the glory of His Son against the devilish backdrops that provide the greatest contrast for the Light to shine.

There is a light that shines in the darkness.

There is as a wind that blows in your stillness.

A deep river flows through the desert holds

for the thirsty soul who sees and knows

there is a light that shines in the darkness.

    

     Much - most - nearly all of the Christian life involves opening the eyes of our heart to see the Light that shines in the darkness.  "We walk by faith, not by sight" (II Corinthians 7:5).  We must expect to find the Lord Jesus Christ where He seemingly cannot be, in venues such as the womb of a virgin, or the obscurity of a carpenter's trade, or the company of publicans and sinners, or the fellowship of a Samaritan woman, or hanging on a Roman cross, or in that unlikely place in our lives where the Light shines in the darkness.  Presently, our Lord's loving involvement is best seen and known against backdrops that provide contrast for His illumination.  "Can any good thing come out of Nazareth?" asked Nathaniel long ago when informed that the Messiah would come from an unlikely and unappealing place (John 1:46).  We know the answer historically, and we must know it presently in the context of our own lives and experience…

"Unto the upright there ariseth a light in the darkness."

(Psalm 112:4)

Weekly Memory Verse

    Every word of God is pure.  He is a shield unto them that put their trust in Him."

(Proverbs 30:5)