Light and Dark
Last weekend I watched the solar eclipse. I had a special eclipse viewer to protect my eyes and checked the progress every few minutes. It started by looking like a small bite had been taken out of the edge of the sun. The day still seemed sunny and bright, and I wouldn’t have known any of the light was missing since it happened so gradually.
Slowly the eclipse progressed until much of my view the sun was blocked by the moon. That small bite missing from the sun turned into significant coverage. I noticed then that the quality of daylight had changed. The sky, still a solid blue, seemed a bit duller. The eclipse muted the colors outside, as if a filter had been placed in front of a spotlight to soften or dampen the beam. The eclipse did not fully block the light, but it certainly changed the quality of the light.
Darkness and light share a funny relationship. We consider them opposites. When we introduce light to darkness – consider a match, a candle, a flashlight – the light interrupts the darkness. A small light may not bring complete brightness but even a small light is enough that we no longer have 100% darkness. Light has a canceling effect on darkness.
Canceling light is harder to do. How do we introduce darkness in a way that cancels light? As with the solar eclipse last weekend, hiding the light source changed the quality of light but didn’t eliminate it. The only way to overpower the light with darkness is to extinguish the light.
Scripture talks a lot about light. God separated the light from the darkness (Genesis 1:4). Jesus called himself the light of the world (John 8:12) and, apart from Jesus, we live in darkness. He told us to be a light for other people and to live in a way that prompts others to praise God (Matthew 5:14-16). Light brings goodness and truth and makes things easy to see (Ephesians 5:9-14).
Darkness exists in our world, both literally and spiritually. Introducing light pushes away the darkness. We bear the light Jesus gave us, the light of Jesus in us. If we’re honest, we know that sometimes filters affect our brightness. Our lights still shine, but not quite as brilliantly. When your light grows dim, be encouraged that it still glows. When we find our identity in Christ, he will fan the flicker back into a flame. Rest in him and keep shining.