Darkness!
How dark is dark? I mean really what makes darkness? How much light does it take to see through the darkness? Are there different kinds of darkness or different levels of darkness? The reality is there are different kinds and levels of darkness. Is darkness good or bad? I believe the answer is that it can be good or bad. Someone who lives in a city doesn’t even really know what true darkness is because there are always lights somewhere. They can put blackout curtains on which helps. But there is another kind of darkness that is more visible in the city.
Darkness is relative
I wear a Fitbit. For those who may not know, a Fitbit is a kind of watch. It not only tells the time but also keeps track of your heart rate and sleep patterns along with a few other things. You can’t see the time without the light coming on. So if you need to know what time it is in the night you just turn your arm toward you and most of the time it automatically comes on. Or if I need to see in the pitch black I push a little button on the side to turn on the light.
At night our eyes get used to the darkness. If you live in the country where it gets really dark you know what I am talking about. You get up in the night to use the bathroom surprisingly you can see fairly well.
When I know…
Sometimes when I know some object, like the vacuum cleaner, has been left out in my room I will want a little light to make sure I don’t run into it. My Fitbit doesn’t have a really bright light. But when you are in a really dark place if I push the button the little light makes my path plainer. I am astonished how much that little bit of light actually helps. It appears to be so bright.
At times I have had to go from my darkroom to go check on something in the other room. At that point, I had to have a bigger light so I have turned on a lamp. Once I turn the lamp off and head back into the other room where it is really dark I noticed something. When I have had more light the darkness seems even darker and the little light from my Fitbit seems so dim. The light from my Fitbit no longer can help me through the darkness.
Darkness is good?
So Darkness is good isn’t it? When it comes to your room at night yes darkness is good. We can’t get proper rest if we don’t have a dark room. God made darkness for a reason. And when we put light into the darkness that He has created it messes with our bodies. It affects our melatonin, serotonin, and our circadian rhythm and many other areas.
We have been bombarded with light everywhere to mess up our bodies. We need to take control and make changes if we are going to help our bodies stay well. Good sleep is foundational when it comes to being healthy. Figure out a way to keep your room and the rooms of your family dark.
Darkness is bad?
How can darkness be good and bad? Darkness is good for sleeping well to improve our health. But evil often happens in the cover of darkness. Why do you think there are so many lights in a city? I don’t know what all the reasons are for having all the lights in the city. But my guess would be that partly it has to do with trying to keep down the crime. Most criminals want to do their mischief in the cover of darkness. And those in authority want to be able to see if there is any mischief going on around town. Darkness in and of itself is not bad. It is the things that darkness can breed that are bad, right?
I believe that there is another kind of darkness that is bad and that is the darkness of sin. I think of sin as darkness in the life. And the more sin that controls us the more darkness we experience. There are many that have felt the darkness so deep within their lives that they have finally ended their lives. This kind of darkness is very dark.
More light needed…
When we get used to the darkness of sin that is in this world we find that our “eyes” have adjusted and things don’t seem so dark. But when you flood your life with the Word of God and prayer you realize how dark the world really is around you. You can’t see without the light. The darkness seems even darker than before. As we draw closer to Christ the darkness (sin) will become distasteful to us.
But the devil does not give up on us. He wants us in full darkness. So he makes us busy or throws some curveball into our lives. And unconsciously we think a little light, that seemed to work in the darkness when we first started out, will work now that we have been flooded with light. When you added a little amount of light from God’s Word or a little prayer you seemed to have seen a little better in the darkness of sin and didn’t stumble over the obvious.
Less time…
But as you spend less time with God you are going to notice that the little light is not as bright as it was when you first started. After being flood with God’s Word and prayer, sporadic or less time does not clearly light the path. And we start to stumble over what we use to see as the obvious when we first started with a little light.
When we first give our hearts to God he gives us just a little light. If He flooded us with everything it would be overwhelming. We have all experienced being in a dark room and then having someone turn on a bright light. It actually blinds us at first. That is why God does not give us all the light at one time. It would be so overwhelming that it would blind us to more truth. As we accept the little light He gives we will be given more light until we are so flooded with His light that sin will be distasteful to us.
This world…
The things in this world have become so much darker. Sin has gone way beyond what my imagination could have imagined. Atrocities that I would have never thought could possibly happen have happened. But the reality is without God’s Word flooding my soul I can do things that I would have never thought I would do.
The devil likes to bring us into a creeping compromise. He does things gradually so that we don’t detect what is happening, especially if we are not staying flooded with His Word. As we gradually compromise different sins seem less and less offensive to us until we are doing things that we thought we would never choose to do.
The devil…
The devil works in reverse to God. He gives us a little darkness. We still seem to be seeing okay with the light that we have so we don’t notice when we finally accept that little bit of compromise. He keeps doing this so gradually that before we know it the little light from the “Fitbit” seems to be bright but it really is not. We are going to stumble and fall. Discouragement will come and we will wonder what has happened. Sin will not seem as bad.
Serious condition…
This is a very serious condition to be in. We need to be constantly flooding our souls with God’s Word and being in much prayer. With the technology that we have today, we have no excuses. We can be flooding our minds with God’s Word constantly. Besides reading it every day we can be listening to it as well. As you drive to and from work, instead of turning on the radio listen to God’s Word. Or spend that time praying. To keep focused, if you are driving alone, you can pray out loud. If you are a stay at home mom, listen while you are working in the kitchen. Use your imagination and figure out ways to flood your soul. As I write these words I am feeling the conviction in my own heart and I want to make changes.
Dear Father,
Thank You for the light that You have for us to lead us through this dark world. Thank You for not blinding us with overwhelming light. But giving it to us gradually as we surrender each area. Help us to keep growing. Continue to guide us as we struggle through this dark world of sin. Protect us from the power of the evil one and his sly ways. Open our eyes and let us see.
In Jesus Name,
Amen
Make a commitment today with me to spend more time flooding your life with God’s Word and prayer.
Love you all!
Do you have an experience where you have had the light of God’s Word shine forth so vividly that you could see the obstacles clearly? I would love to have you share.