Days shorten here in the Atlantic states as winter approaches the Northeastern United States. Subtle changes a minute a day seem to engulf people in darkness of late afternoon. It is comparable to driving through a dark mountain tunnel on a sunny day.
“Is it night, Mom? Can we go out to play after supper?
Getting the same children to wake up and hop out of bed in the dark is another struggle. “It’s too dark to go to school.”
Mom turns on the light—the soft glow of a bedside lamp. Mom hustles the children toward the bathroom. “Be glad you are not the bus driver. He has to clean away snow and warm the engine. Hurry!” The school bus will arrive at school in winter at the edge of light.
Long ago, the sun was going down when Abram fell into a deep sleep: “A horror of great darkness fell on him.” Total darkness is scary. But a dark sky with tiny stars on the night of a full moon is a beautiful, welcome sight. Light makes the difference.
Think of the time when the earth was without form or void, and darkness was upon the face of the deep. Who made the difference? The Spirit of God moved upon the waters. In the beginning, God made a new creation. God said, “Let there be light and there was light, separated from the darkness. The light was good—the amazing work of God.
Their disobedience thrust Adam and Eve and their descendants into spiritual darkness. But God sent His Son to be the Light of the world. God makes a new creation of each one who asks for forgiveness and believes in Jesus. Old things of darkness are gone, and all things are new in the light.
Perhaps you are looking into the dark tunnel of another year. Why is the world in conflict? There is an answer, and we can find peace. Know God through the Bible. Make it “a lamp to your feet and a light to your path.” Walk in light. In Him, there is no darkness at all.
(Photo courtesy of morguefile and Earl53.)
(For more devotions, visit us at www.christiandevotions.us.)
Joyce Merwin lives in Owego, NY, with her husband Robert, who is a fine artist. A mother and grandmother, Joyce retired from public school and Christian school teaching and county casework. She taught women’s Bible classes and has spoken to women’s groups. Her hobbies are reading, gardening, and music.