Darkness into Light
“In Him was life, and that life was the light of men. The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” John 1:4-5
A couple months ago, we experienced the winter solstice: the shortest, darkest day of the year. It’s crazy to think that since summer the days have become progressively shorty, the light dimming a half minute earlier every night. This year the solstice felt significant for me.
Arriving on its heels is Christmas—the entrance of the true Light of the world. But before He came, everything looked dark. God’s people had been given a promise but it had not come to fruition for four hundred years. That’s a long time to wait in the dark and silence.
This season has had several bouts of darkness I wasn’t prepared for. Carrying the weight of grief and sadness for friends walking through hard seasons, feeling a bit lost myself in the midst of lots of transition. I’d like to say that at Christmas I feel totally happy, content, connected, assured, but the reality is that I’m just trying to love God and stay connected in the wrestle.
I believe seasons of darkness are necessary, that the world is full of broken places, people, things, and none of us make it out unscathed—but what I’m thankful for in this winter season is that the darkness does not last. There is light coming into the world again.
We celebrated the coming of the Light this past week, and every day for the next six months, slowly by slowly, we will see more and more light in our world. The truth is, we still have a lot of darkness to travel through, literally and spiritually, but we get to walk through every valley with the Light of the world. He brightens the path before us and leads us all the way home.