Later, in one of his talks, Jesus said to the people, “I am the Light of the world. So if you follow me, you won’t be stumbling through the darkness, for living light will flood your path.” John 8:12 (TLB)

The darkest places I’ve been are not the caverns we visited in Tennesse or Carlsbad Cavern in New Mexico.
Yes, they were very dark. In both places, the tour guides turned off the lights and the total absence of light was frightening. It’s something I’ve never experienced above ground and frankly don’t plan to do again. Creepy!

But the darkest places were when I stepped away from God. In my teens and a few times after that. I thought I was ok. I wasn’t.

Once, I even justified my actions by saying God wanted me to be happy so what I was doing was perfectly fine. That’s how far off-center I was.

We are warned that life comes with trials (John 16:33). Even after accepting Christ as my Lord and Savior, I still found myself in the darkness of disappointment and full-on distress once or twice, at least. I’d like to say this doesn’t happen anymore, but it does. I am human, not Super Christian, and these things will happen.

The good news is that we don’t have to stay in the darkness. Jesus is the light of the world, follow Him and never walk in darkness (John 8:12). Sometimes we might just lose track of the light for a little while.

When I find life growing dim it’s usually because I’ve drifted away from Him in some way. Maybe I’ve been busy and not in regular prayer or not reading my Bible as I should. Maybe I’ve started relying on myself for everything. Or maybe I’m just tired and not getting enough rest. Can you relate?

These are all circumstances that work in the enemy’s favor. He will use anything at his disposal to amplify our feelings and circumstances to create distance between us and God.

There’s a reason the darkness starts creeping in. Try not to give it any space. Instead, seek God’s presence constantly through prayer, study, and thankfulness (1 Thessalonians 5:17-18). Ask Him to help you spot your triggers before someone turns the lights off on you.

The Book of Psalms encourages any day and it’s a great place to start. There we are reminded of God’s love, protection, patience, guidance, safety, and our own identity as His children. And that’s just one book of the Bible.

Thank you, Lord, for Your Word and work in our lives to bring us ever closer to you. You are always a beacon of pure light in the darkness.

 

This post is part of the Five Minute Friday blog link-up! Each week Kate Motaung provides a one-word writing prompt for participants to free write for five minutes flat and share their work with the online community. This week’s prompt is DARKNESS.

Photo by Janus Y on Unsplash

TLB – The Living Bible