**And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.** John 1:5
**Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.** John 8:12
** I am come a light into the world, that whosoever believeth on me should not abide in darkness.** John 12:46
Many years ago, while living in San Diego, I would end my shift at the department store at closing time and would have to leave the store so that they could lock up. My co-workers would go to their cars or be picked up by family or friends and they would all head home. At that time, my husband and I shared a car and he was also working. So, I would have to wait for him to finish work before he could pick me up.
Because he was doing sales calls, sometimes, I would wait 15, maybe 30 minutes. But other nights it would be a couple of hours. I would sit alone at the back of the store waiting for him to pick me up. I never knew how long it would be as cell phones had yet to be invented!
Of course, because the store was closed, the lights had been turned off and I would be sitting alone in the dark waiting. Those few short hours seemed like they would never end.
I had to temporarily live in darkness. To be honest, I didn’t like it. It was too far to walk home and the road went up a very steep hill with a lot of traffic. A dangerous trip on foot. I was better off staying put.
I was always alone, but I was never bothered by anyone. But if you’ve ever had to stay in the dark alone for any amount of time, you know that the dark begins to feel alive with exaggerated noises.
After a short while, your eyes play tricks on you and you begin to think there’s something there next to you when there isn’t. My imagination, of course, was my worse enemy.
How glad I was when my husband would pull up with the car and his head lights would shine in my little corner of Darkness. I would feel such relief, feel instantly safe and rescued, with all of my fear disappearing in an instant.
Back then, I had no idea who Jesus Christ was. I didn’t know He had words that could comfort me. I didn’t know that He could give me a new life with less darkness, real or imagined. And I certainly didn’t know that He was light. I am sure had I known all that, those nights would passed more quickly.
Now, He is my light that shines through all of my darkness.
And the darkness that He chased away with His light was the darkness within me. He took away my dark thoughts, my dark desires, my dark plans and the dark hopelessness that I lived with everyday.
Is Jesus your light?