Good at Night

 Jesus shouted to the crowds, “If you trust me, you are trusting not only me, but also God who sent me.  For when you see me, you are seeing the one who sent me.  I have come as a light to shine in this dark world, so that all who put their trust in me will no longer remain in the dark.”  John 12:44-46

An old saying goes that nothing good happens after dark.  This was something my grandmother would say to me as a young child.  As I have grown, it seems there is a lot of truth to that.  Yes, there are evening baseball games and shows and events that entertain us until late in the night.  However, it seems that bad things always happened to me when night fell.  And yet like many others, we all can be drawn to darkness in some form or another.  It is worthy to note that there is indeed good in darkness.  Without darkness, we would not be able to distinguish light.  Also, darkness reveals our deepest fears and brings out our worst character flaws for us to become aware of.  You might say that maybe I’ve lost a screw upstairs for Jesus is ‘the light,’ and what good could possibly come from a world representing darkness?  Why would darkness be positive?

A fallen world gives us a clear indication whether we are truly serving God or not.  Imagine if you will that you are in a dark room by yourself with no light to be found.  Just pitch black.  As you become comfortable in it, you might be able to see something or feel your way around.  You may even start to notice a figure in the room.  However, you will eventually get to the point that you need a light switch, right?  And once we find it, we feel the relief that comes with it.  There are two things to pull from this analogy.  First, we all lived in total darkness until we found Jesus, and with Him, we are able to understand the difference between our lost selves and our reborn in Christ like image.  Furthermore, someone who becomes comfortable living in darkness will not seek Christ.  This leads me to the second point.  Once we are given the light through His Holy Spirit, we become the light in places of darkness.  We are to shine God’s light wherever we go whether it is at church or at the night club for should we shine His light, it becomes the very light others in darkness will run to.

Jesus is always with us.  Knowing this, the appearance of darkness in our life should not be threatening.  It is an opportunity to show our greatest growth.  Jesus was tempted in the wilderness by Satan after fasting for 40 days and nights (Matthew 4:1-11).  Yet, He gained strength from it to further share the Gospel.  One my favorite authors, Dr. Brene Brown, once said, “Who you are in the space where you can’t see in front of you is where courage is born.”  So darkness can either be the precursor of our demise or if positioned from a Godly perspective, further confirmation of the power of the one true living God.  How can you better appreciate being ‘in the dark?’  What must you do to further exhibit God’s light in places of darkness?  My prayer is that instead of dreading, we are courageous enough to see the good in the night.  Amen.