Darkness cannot overcome the light of God’s presence

By BILLIY HOLLAND

Contributing writer

It’s amazing to think that without light, there is complete darkness. Thank God, every morning he directs the sun to rise which allows us to see without stumbling and having to feel our way around like a blind person. Spiritually speaking, we were all born into spiritual darkness and are only given our vision when we invite Christ to transform us into a new creation.

Another exciting reality is that no amount of darkness can extinguish even the tiniest light, and confirms that as creator, his authority is greater than any other power. “And the light shines in darkness; and the darkness cannot overcome it!” John 1:5. 

When we are children, it’s common to be afraid of the dark because our natural instinct does not trust the unknown. We imagine creatures that can see us and are waiting in the shadows to grab us. We laugh at how silly this sounds, but fear is associated with our fallen human nature and even as adults we are still faced with the temptation to be anxious and worried about what we cannot understand.

It is only when our mind has been renewed by the word and spirit of the Lord that by faith we can trust him and know there is nothing to fear as long as we are holding his hand. “The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?” Psalm 27:1. 

I remember as a child, probably no older than 6 or 7 years old, my parents planned an exciting adventure to Mammoth Cave. I recall that we followed a large group of people into the cave as the tour guide explained about the aragonites and stalagmites and so on. There was decent lighting as we moved deeper through the damp tunnels but still a little scary for a wide-eyed kid.

Anyway, we finally came to a place that opened up into a huge room that is technically called a “chamber” that also included a steep drop-off that in my mind was nothing less than terrifying. People were saying it seemed to have no bottom and I was definitely not going to the edge to confirm these statements. Yes, there was a flimsy railing to prevent someone from falling into a delightful Chinese restaurant, but nonetheless I was not taking any chances.

Suddenly, they intentionally turned out the lights and I am not exaggerating, you could not see your hand in front of your face. Of course, they were trying to make a point about total darkness and believe me I was completely convinced. It did not help that I had somehow drifted away from my parents just before the black-out and I remember during those few moments feeling a huge sense of relief as I had both arms wrapped around what I thought was my dad’s leg. When the lights came back on, I was calmly trying to adjust my vision when I looked up into the face of a complete stranger.

Yes, in the chaos, I attached myself to some poor man and was embarrassed to say the least. When my frantic parents found me, the rest of the tour my mom was either holding my hand or had a firm grip on my jacket.

You know, thinking about how dark it is in this world without light, gives us a hint that eternity will be the same way. God’s Word proclaims that heaven will be filled with the brilliant light of His presence forever. Revelation chapter 21 and verse 23 says, “And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon to shine in it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof” and also in verse 25, we are promised there will never be darkness or night. John chapter 8 and verse 12 says, “Then spoke Jesus unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that follows me shall never walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.” 

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