Our world is experiencing a time of darkness. But there is hope, it’s not as dark as you think. The light of the world has come, and the light will triumph in the end.
Isaiah 42:16 God said, ‘I will bring the blind by a way they don’t know. I will lead them in paths that they don’t know. I will make darkness light before them, and crooked places straight. I will do these things, and I will not forsake them.
America and the world are experiencing a time of darkness. There are wars, protests, conflicts, lawlessness, and even the threat of revolution by some ideological factions.
There are many law enforcement officers who have taken early retirement or relocated to different places because of what is happening in big cities, because they fear antifa and others who may attack their families.
Some people are fearful of what could happen and discouraged by all the turmoil. There’s a cloud of apprehension that seems to be hanging over us.
Our days are a time when people “call evil good, and good evil, who confuse darkness for light, and light for darkness (Isaiah 5: 20).
In this darkness, there is hope.
There have been many dark times in history. The Romans attempted an all-out extermination of Christians for 3 centuries. Almost 4 million people are buried in the underground caverns around Rome because they had to flee underground to escape.
The civilized world was almost overrun by Genghis Khan, by the Goths, by the Muslims under Saladin. There was a black plague that killed 75-299 million people. There were “dark ages” when the scripture were inaccessible except to the mostly unsaved clergy who spoke Latin.
There was the US Civil War in which the states took up arms against each other in fact 600,000 men died. Then two world wars wracked the world, killing hundreds of millions of people. We nearly had a nuclear war with Russia in 1962 that could have wiped out all life. These times were certainly darker than what we are facing today, yet God brought us through them.
Trouble always needs perspective and comparison. When you think of other people with worse troubles it usually makes you brighten up because yours isn’t that bad.
My pastor spoke about complaining in Sunday’s teaching. Most of the time our complaints are just inconveniences.
There’s a proverb that comes from various Chinese, Indian, Jewish, and Irish, and many more I’m sure that says, “I cried because I had no shoes until I met someone who had no feet.”
Isaiah 9:2 announces the “good news,” “The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light. This who lived in the land of the shadow of death, on then the light has shined.”
I believe the light of God is coming to the world. Only the people who choose evil will fall. If we choose to believe in Jesus He will never leave us or forsake us. He will lead us out. F
God has given us His Word to light our path, to hide it within our hearts, that we might not sin against God. It shows us where to go, how to live, and how to please Him.
Light represents knowledge, instead of ignorance.
I’m Psalm 119:130 David says, “Your word is lamp to my feet and a light for my path.” Before we knew Jesus we walked in spiritual darkness. We didn’t know about our spiritual needs. We didn’t have the right priorities or direction for our lives. But when Jesus came He threw on the light so these things could establish our steps.
I read somewhere that Dr Alexander from Princeton University found that glowworms took such extremely small steps that they hardly ever moved. But when they crossed fields at night, there was just enough glow in them that it lighted their next step. They were never in the dark. When I thought about this, I thought what a good illustration. They weren’t in the dark and neither are we. God lights just enough for us to make the next step.
Light illuminates our darkness.
God’s children are called “children of light” (John 12:36, Thessalonians 5:5). For you were once darkness, but are now light in the world. Walk as children of light” –Ephesians 5:8.
Righteousness VS Wickedness
The light acts as a dividing principle. When people encounter the light, they are forced to decide to accept it or reject it with its implications. The light has come into the world, but people love darkness instead of light because their deeds are evil. John 3:20 says, “Everyone who does evil hates the light.” Light exposes what we are. Some people will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed.
God is a merciful God.
To accept the light is to accept the life with Jesus. In fact, in the light there is life. In God there is life itself.
In John 8:12 Jesus tells us, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows Me will never walk in darkness, but have the light of life.”
“The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness hasn’t overcome it” -John 1:5
From Pity to Praise 