As the winds increased, all our lights went dark. Hurricane Hugo had turned and headed inland for 125 miles straight toward Columbia, SC where we lived. For the next three days, we depended on candles and flashlights for every move we made, especially at night. Thankfully, our home was in a neighborhood where several executives from the power company also lived. Our lights returned after only three days of darkness. Some areas were without power and lights for weeks.
We take light for granted until we lose it. Light is essential for life. Light vs darkness is one of the most common analogies in the Bible about the battle between good and evil or God and Satan. Scripture begins and ends with references to light and darkness. The earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the waters Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light (Gen 1:2, 3). And there will no longer be any night [darkness]; and they will not have need of the light of a lamp nor the light of the sun, because the Lord God will illumine them . . . (Rev 22:5).
Light and darkness have both a physical and a meta-physical (spiritual, symbolic) meaning. The simplest definition for physical light is the energy from the sun or fire and from electrical devices that allows us to see. Darkness simply means devoid of light. Spiritual light conveys the ideas of salvation, joy, knowledge, righteousness, and life. Spiritual darkness symbolizes everything that opposes God—wickedness, sin, death, etc. Around the world today, as evil doers become increasingly brazen, light and darkness are more defined with less gray areas. This makes the light of God’s people shine even brighter and more distinct. Less and less can believers hide in the shadows. The time is soon coming when everyone will have to declare if they walk in light or darkness. Every week, I read an ever growing number of testimonies about those persecuting Christians who are converting to Christ because of the light of the believers they torture, shine so bright through their love, joy, peace and refusal to renounce Jesus.
The encouragement for us is we have been called out of darkness into his wonderful light (1 Pet 2:9). Yet, this does not eliminate our struggle with darkness. Paul warned us, For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness . . . (Eph 6:12). He also told us to expose the fruitless deeds of darkness. Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them (Eph 5:11). In our compound in Africa, thousands of rats would come out at night. However, when we turned on the security lights and exposed them, they scattered. Creatures of darkness hate light. Exposing the works of darkness has been a powerful spiritual weapon in my life and our home against Satan. At times we feel overwhelmed with a heaviness or with bad thoughts filling our minds. At first, we may think we are just tired or don’t feel well. I’ve learned that the majority of these events happen when darkness has crept into our home. When I realize and acknowledge this as a work of darkness, I ask God to bring light to darkness. Almost always the bad thoughts and heaviness leave because I have exposed Satan and he hates light.
In the physical world, we perceive light at various levels measured by luminous flux per unit or for us non-scientific people—watts. We rate light bulbs as 60 watts, 100 watts, 500 watts, etc. The brightest light we see is the sun. It emits 3.8 x 10^33 ergs/sec or 3.8 x 10^26 watts of power. OK, I don’t know what that means either. I called my engineer son who simply replied, “Dad, it is a really big number.” Here’s my point, even the brightness of sun is not anywhere near the brightest light. God is Light (1Jn 1:5). Light is not merely His attribute, He ‘IS’ light. He is the infinite essence of light. He is absolute light. In Him here is no darkness at all (v5). Darkness is the dominion of Satan and darkness symbolizes all evil. Light dispels both physical darkness and spiritual darkness. How much more does God who is light and dwells in unapproachable light, dispel the finite darkness of Satan’s dominion.
The practical lesson for staying safe in a dark world is the closer we get to God, the closer we are to Light and the more darkness is dispelled. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you (Jas 4:8). When darkness tries to overwhelm us, we must first recognize it, expose it, and draw near to God, who is infinitely greater than 3.8 x 10^33 ergs/sec or 3.8 x 10^26 watts and then walk in His Word. Your word is a lamp to my feet And a light to my path (Psa 119:105).
Sustaining Word for the Week: If you are overwhelmed by darkness or partial darkness, draw near to the God. He is light and will overcome the darkest dark.