God Speaking

“In him was life, and that life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it.”

(John 1: 4 – 5)

A few weeks ago, a raging storm burst over our city. There were wild gusts of wind which brought trees crashing down, some falling on power lines causing power outages. The main thrust was during the night, so houses were plunged into darkness. We humans have become so used to just flicking a switch to turn on the light, that being in total darkness was frightening, as we scrambled to find candles any form of light which only gave a little light in the darkness. 

Sometimes our personal lives seem to be filled with darkness, if worries about our health arise, broken relationships, money problems, even the ugly evil of our broken world can plunge us into darkness. 

We sing a song at our church with these beautiful encouraging words. 

Step into the darkness with his Light.

Jesu tells us he is the light of the world.

“When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness but will have the light of life.” (John 8: 12)

So how do we step into the darkness with his light. I love the story in Acts 16, when Paul and Silas are beaten and thrown into jail for preaching the good news of Jesus Christ. The jailor makes sure they are in chains and puts them in stocks as well. Imagine the other prisoner’s amazement and the jailor when they burst into songs of praise to God. Praise is one of the ways we can dispel darkness in our own lives. When we stop and think of the Saviour’s love and praise him for dying for us, light creeps onto the darkness, eventually banishing the darkness.  

Darkness can descend on those around us, and this is when shining Christ’s light can have a powerful effect helping those who are experiencing sorrow or pain. We can bring Christ’s light into their lives and there is so much advice in God’s word as to how to do that. In Paul’s letter to the Galatians, he writes this beautiful verse about the fruits of the Holy Spirit. (Galatians 5: 22) When we embrace the Holy Spirit into our lives we inherit his beautiful love for others. We can bring his love to others to be kind and patient, be gentle as we help others to see the light. 

We may feel inadequate in bringing light to others, thinking we haven’t got the strength or what could we do. There is a beautiful little Sunday school song that gives us great advice. 

Jesus bids us shine with a pure clear light

Like a little candle burning in the night

In this world of darkness so we must shine

You in your small corner and I in mine

So however small our little corner may be, we can shine Christ’s beautiful light knowing the power it has over darkness.