A Candle In The Dark

Their minds are full of darkness; they wander far from the life God gives because they have closed their minds and hardened their hearts against him.   Ephesians 4:18

Paul gives us a powerful description of the human condition: sin darkens the mind, hardens the heart, renders the conscience insensitive, and distorts our desires. And the way God has chosen to break into this darkness is by placing his light there.

God may have put you in a dark place—perhaps you work with people who are like this. If you’re the only Christian in your family or if your colleagues at work are unsympathetic to your faith, you might easily feel discouraged.

Listen: if you take a candle outside in the middle of a summer day, its light will not be impressive. But if you light a candle in a dungeon, its flame will change the whole environment. The greater the darkness, the more effective the light.

My parents were in Scotland during the Second World War, and my mother lived in the town of Leith, where there are still some shipping docks. That area was a natural target in the nighttime bombing raids.

It was essential that the city lights not be seen by incoming planes, and so each family was required to cover their windows with “blackouts.” Wardens would patrol the streets, and if they saw a chink of light coming through one of the windows, they would shout, “Get those lights out!”

Never underestimate the importance of your light in a dark place. When everything else is dark, even the smallest light can be seen for miles. God may have placed you in the darkness so that he may use your light as the means of leading someone home who is lost in the darkness.

If you belong to Jesus Christ, the light is in you, and the day is coming when you will be in the light. In the book of Revelation, John wrote of a beautiful city that doesn’t need the light of lamps or the sun—God is its light.

The radiance of God’s immediate presence will be suffocating fire for those who have hidden from God in the darkness and cool light to those who have come into God’s light through Christ. What will God’s presence be for you?

For further reading, see Revelation 21