Waking up to the light being turned on without warning to “Cover your eyes!” can be the worst way to wake up. Perhaps it’s easier to relate to the squinty-eyed, “Agghhh, it’s SO BRIGHT!” feeling by remembering how it feels to take your sunglasses off on a bright day… or perhaps switching on the light during a mid-night bathroom trip, or when the theater lights come on at the end of a movie…
I think you get my point. The light HURTS your eyes and for a moment, you are blinded.
Light is a beautiful thing. It quenches darkness and no amount of darkness could put out even the smallest bit of light.
John 1:5- The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
My desire is to walk in the light- to walk in freedom from all darkness. Jesus brings us into a place where this is a tangible reality!
1 Thessalonians 5:5- You are all children of the light and children of the day. We do not belong to the night or to the darkness.
Running out of the captivity of darkness and into the freedom of light isn’t comfortable, though. In most situations, the light can at first hurt the eyes of our hearts. For a moment, we are blinded by the light. I can’t help but think of Paul on the road to Damascus and how a demonstration of God’s light led Him from a life of persecuting Christians to a world-changing, culture-shifting Jesus lover.
Acts 9:3- As he neared Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. Act 9:8-9- Saul got up from the ground, but when he opened his eyes he could see nothing. So they led him by the hand into Damascus. For three days he was blind, and did not eat or drink anything. Acts 9:18- Immediately, something like scales fell from Saul’s eyes, and he could see again. He got up and was baptized.
What a powerful encounter, but what an uncomfortable three days of waiting for the scales to fall- of not being sure of the change that’s about to come or of what the light will expose.
John 3:20- Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed.
The beauty of Jesus is that the moment His truth and light exposes the enemy’s darkness,
WE ARE FREE!
We are free from the condemnation that comes from living in secret sin, we are free from the guilt and shame that covers our pasts, and we are free from living in performance for God and others.
Imagine constantly living in a dark room or with sunglasses on because we’re too afraid that the pain of the initial view of light will not be worth the beauty we are able to see after our eyes adjust to the light. What a lie Satan has led us to believe- that it’s safer to live in our darkness than to experience our own “Damascus moments” and be free, children of the light.
I wonder if this is a fear that hinders the women in the bars from receiving love.
I wonder if this is a fear that prevents the American church from walking radically.
I wonder if this is a fear that leads children of God to hide their light from a dark and broken world.
Matthew 5:14-16- You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.
It’s time to let TRUTH and LIGHT overcome every lie and bit of darkness, In Jesus’ Name, Amen!
