THE LIGHT SHINES

Many mornings incredible colors fill the sky as the sun rises to start the day. My husband is one of those who loves to take pictures of the sunrise. I don’t see the sunrise that often, but when I do it is like watching a painter mix and stroke the colors on to the canvas in a fascinating eye-catching way and then, ta-dah - it is a new day.

It is so great when the sun is shining and there are blue skies, birds singing, and it doesn’t really matter if it is cold out. A day with sunshine to light up the sky can help a day be better no matter what the temperature.

I do get to see the moon rise over the horizon quite often. I have walked in the evening looking up at the sky and tried to take many pictures of the moon and the twinkling stars. The pictures typically do not compare to what I am viewing at the time.

There is a place in our neighborhood that I have spent time just gazing up at the lights in the sky while mulling over things happening in my life or others’ lives.

 Sometimes I cry, sometimes I talk to God, and sometimes I just plain admire the amazing handiwork that I see before me up in the sky.

Sometimes the clouds are so thick you can’t see all the stars or the moon. Sometimes a cloud will part a bit and I can get a peek at the lights in the sky.

Even when it is stormy, I know there are lights behind those dark clouds.

When I go inside, throughout my home little night lights are placed to guide our way when we turn the main lights off at night. If we get up at night, it isn’t completely dark. There are soft lights to guide us.

God created light for our day, and He created lights to shine in the dark of the night.

The book of Genesis tells us on the fourth day of creation in chapter 1 verse 16. “Then God made two great lights: the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night. He made the stars also. 17 God set them in the firmament of the heavens to give light on the earth, 18 and to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good.”

This Sunday we get to set our clocks forward which will make our early evenings brighter.

In the fall when we switch our clocks backward each year it is instantly dark and dreary early in the day. The rainy weather starts, and people head indoors. 

However, a wonderful thing happens in October, (now that people decorate for Christmas earlier) the neighborhoods light up one by one around our city with bright beautiful light displays that have become more and more extravagant each year. There are lists in the paper to let you know where the most exquisite light displays are around the cities. There are quite a few on that list and there are quite a few that don’t make the paper.

Just down the street from us the neighborhood puts on a wonderful Christmas display.  I love looking at the beautiful light displays so I turn on to that street quite a bit to see it up close.

Then closer to the Christmas holiday I come home to cheery decorations that await in my house along with the Christmas tree that has its own light display.

All of this helps make it truly the most wonderful time of the year.

And then the new year begins, and we celebrate newness. It brings a sense of hope for the days that lie ahead.

Then…the lights come down. The trees are put away. The celebration time is over.

Except for a few homes there is no longer those beautiful lights causing the streets to be illuminated with color.

There is a deeper darkness to the evening, and the nights seem longer.  

Darkness is all around. It makes it so hard to see. Sometimes it can be easier to close your eyes, hide your head, or hide your heart, so as not to think about what causes things to be dark or what happens in the dark.

The news and social media plagues us with information of the virus. There has been a huge loss of lives and suffering of loved ones. It can be terrifying to have someone cough near you. People wait at home for information of their loved ones on whether they are okay or not while they suffer in the hospital.

There has been so much misunderstanding between people. Anger. Retaliation.

Drugs, sex addiction, and sex trafficking is rampant in America. It is rampant in our very area!

Families are being torn apart in so many ways whether it be by isolation from the virus, the vaccine opinions, the masks fights, different addictions, the list is long.

The homeless line the sides of the roads and freeway. Their garbage and belongings fill the grassy areas.

There is an outrageous number of children in the foster care system and there is not enough homes for them to be stay safe while their parents deal with their issues.  And there is so many burnt out foster parents, CASA, and caseworkers because of a system that doesn’t appear to be handling the overload very well. It leaves a person shaking their head with a broken heart.

Young adults are dealing with mental issues during this pandemic time.

Murders, robberies, and kidnappings are the norm in the paper. 

It seems the lights are not only put away for the holidays, but the light is gone from life itself. 

There is darkness.

And in the dark is where the mourning cries of the heart are not always heard, and hope can be lost. In the dark is where a person can feel so alone. In the dark is where it is hard to see the helping hand that is reaching out to comfort. In the dark is where it is hard to find those who need comforting the most.

In the dark is where we sometimes hold on to things that only make it darker because we cannot clearly see.

The other day I read in Genesis 1 that in the beginning of creation darkness was all around. God said, “Let there be light.” And there was light, and God separated the light from the darkness. He said it was good.

It really caught my attention that light was the first thing God spoke into creation. And He SEPERATED the light from the darkness.

It was dark and then there was light. This was the first day.

And it was good.

He didn’t leave it at that. As we read earlier on the fourth day, He created a lesser light to RULE the night.

In each day darkness does come in one form or another, but so does LIGHT. Each day there is light. God spoke light first into the day.

During the Christmas celebration Christians celebrate the birth of Jesus. In John 1:1-5 – it says that Jesus is the light…

“In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God. ²He was in the beginning with God. ³ All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. ⁴ In Him was life, and the life was the light of me. ⁵ And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.”

Even after the Christmas lights have come down. Even when the nights are dark. Even when darkness tries to cover the light.

LIGHT is still there.

Even when the sun goes down each day and darkness fills the land, God put stars and a moon in the sky to keep it from becoming completely dark.

The book of John tells us that Jesus light shines in the darkness…

We need the light that shines in the darkness.

There is a cute little song from Sunday School, This little light of mine, I’m gonna let it shine. This little light of mine, I’m gonna let it shine, let it shine, let it shine, let it shine.

There is a lot of pain in life right now. A lot of grieving. Believe me I know.

There is a light that shines eternally and that is the light of Jesus.

Believe me I am not just trying to say something simple. I have also experienced dark nights. A heart so broken I didn’t even know how I could smile again. I have struggled with physical things this last year like never before and the process of healing has been long. I have lost ones I love, and miss that I will not hear their voices or spend another moment on earth with them.

My family and I gave a big chunk of our lives to bring good to a situation that seems like it didn’t matter what we did.

It looks so dark sometimes, and the dark can cause a heart to feel hopeless.

Yes, it can.

I am here to say it is never, never, never completely dark.

NEVER.

Jesus is the light of the world.

Yep, there is a lot of dark, but God’s light shines brighter.

God SPOKE and there became light. A light that has never been put out since the day of creation.

And every single day that sun rises. The stars twinkle. The moon shines. And it is a complete day.

There is hope.

See the night comes, but it cannot be completely dark, even if the skies are cloudy.

And we have PEOPLE.

God’s people.

Jesus says to be a city on a hill.

There is always, always a person. Maybe they won’t solve everything, but every little good thing a person does can light up a day so bright.

The nights may be dark. The days may seem as dark as the night, but there is a light that can come to shine in your life.

Jesus’ light. It shows through creation, it shows through people.

His light shines no matter what.