When Darkness Calls

Have you ever experienced dark moments in your life? Perhaps it was a traumatic event, or its ongoing effect, or a time of depression, or simply a general sense of purposelessness and the futility of life. Regardless of its cause, to be human means we go through dark nights of the soul, and these dark nights often bring deep levels of anguish and loneliness.

But in those dark moments, are we truly alone?

The Gospel of John opens with one of the most beautiful pieces of poetry in all literature. It talks about the Divine Word (a reference to Jesus) who spoke Creation into being and filled it with the light of his life. This light is not a reference to physical light (like the sun), but to something much more deep and meaningful.

4 The Word gave life to everything that was created,
    and his life brought light to everyone.
5 The light shines in the darkness,
    and the darkness can never extinguish it.

~ John 1:4-5

Just as "light" refers to something more than physical light, so "darkness" refers to something more than nighttime. It also refers to the spiritually and emotionally dark moments of my life, and the dark places of my heart.

In other words, Jesus' life is the light of all people that shines in every dark place. No matter what darkness is there, or whatever darkness I produce, it will not overcome the light of Jesus Christ, and it will not overpower the life he offers.

Then John goes on to say:

14 So the Word became human and made his home among us. We observed his glory, the glory as the one and only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.
16 Indeed, we have all received grace upon grace from his fullness.

~ John 1:14, 16

When I receive life and light from Jesus, it’s always from his fullness, never from his incompleteness, and this light is grace upon grace, truth upon truth. Meaning that rather than judging me for feeling dark, this light comes with God's grace to understand my pain (for there cannot be darkness in my life without pain), grace to forgive, grace to bring healing to my life (even if my darkness is self-inflicted).

However, this light also comes with truth: the truth to call darkness "darkness," and sin "sin." The light and life of Jesus does not allow us to make excuses for ourselves, or pretend the pain we feel or cause others to feel is no big deal. Instead, Jesus shines his life-giving light into my dark places, calls it what it is, and offers healing and restoration for my brokenness.

PAUSE and REFLECT: Where is the darkness in your life? Note I do not ask "Is there darkness in your life," because on this side of eternity we will always graze the edges of darkness and sometimes feel enveloped by it. We all have dark moments, dark thoughts, or dark actions that - if allowed - would occupy more and more space in our life.

However, no matter how dark we feel, the darkness will never, ever, ever, ever extinguish the Light. The Light is here, and he offers us hope. In our darkest traumas, our most gut-wrenching moments, and our destructive choices, the Light shines and cannot be snuffed out, and he offers us grace and truth. 

Where is the light shining in your darkness? It's there... somewhere.

When he who is grace and truth comes and stands in the darkness of my life, simply being there, his light exposes my brokenness, my neediness, and my sin. And because he is loving and powerful, he can do something about it… if only I will receive.