Light

“Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life” (John 8:12 ESV).

My family has made the trip into the depths of the Crystal Cave in western Wisconsin several times. It’s a place of wonder, with stalactites and stalagmites, and mineral deposits of many kinds. The tour is guided, of course, and the trip down is lit. But when you make it to the last accessible chamber the guide, for thirty seconds to a minute, turns our the lights.

We stand there in complete and utter darkness. I couldn’t say, but I’m guessing that I’m not the only one moving my hand back and forth in front of my face, hoping to catch some sort of proof that it’s there. I know that I won’t be able to see anything, but the wonder of the darkness always finds me repeating the action each time we go (I know…the definition of insanity….).

We humans have always found the darkness intriguing. Some tremble in fear, some hope to find some truth or treasure hidden there, but we all wonder what’s really there.

The first humans, Adam and Eve, found the darkness in much the same way that my family found the darkness at the bottom of the cave. We descended with the help of artificial light. We took comfort in the light without really noticing that there were areas of darkness all around us that the light didn’t touch.

Or perhaps we noticed the darkness, but it excited us–the light revealed enough for us to get around, but the darkness held the promise of new and exciting things. Maybe we felt, as did Adam and Eve, that we are missing out on something, holding out on us of the good things that He has. But He hasn’t been holding out on us. He has been protecting us.

It really is amazing, just how much you can see, deep in a cave, with just the light of a candle or a cellphone (which is totally useless as anything other than a light at the bottom of a cave!). Darkness tends to run away from light. It keeps to the fringes, itself terrified of the light.

Jesus said, “I have come into the world as light, so that whoever believes in me may not remain in darkness” (‭‭John‬ ‭12:46‬ ‭ESV‬‬). And John, writing about Jesus said, “In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it” (‭‭John‬ ‭1:4-5‬ ‭ESV‬‬).

We were told at the beginning of our cave tour that, in the event of a power failure, our guide was well equipped to guide us out with flashlights. We needed only to follow, unconcerned with what we could not see.

Have your eyes opened a little? “Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life” (John 8:12 ESV). You see, while we walk this earth we will occasionally find ourselves in dark places–places of temptation, places where we can see no hope or way out–but Jesus has promised us that He is with us, shining in the darkness. And the darkness cowers in fear.

Blessings on your week!