As an island girl (read more about my story here), one of my favorite forms of relaxation is sitting in direct sunlight. I love the sun’s rays on my face. I love the warmth that permeates to my insides. I love feeling like I’m in the Caribbean no matter where I am geographically.
Sunlight can be hard to come by in central Pennsylvania where I have lived for over two decades. Overcast days can extend into weeks in which the sun hides indefinitely. During the winter months, darkness takes over before five o’clock in the afternoon. Having suffered with depression for years, my internal world has often mirrored the gloominess of the cloudy forecast.
In my craving for internal and external sunniness, I have returned repeatedly to the story of creation in Genesis.
In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. (Genesis 1: 1-2 KJV)
Like me, perhaps you can you relate to the darkness, chaos, and emptiness described in these verses. Maybe your inner world feels like a “soup of nothingness, a bottomless emptiness, an inky blackness” (Genesis 1: 1-2 The Message). Maybe your circumstances resemble a disordered void and a barren wasteland.
What was God’s response to the darkness?
He moved. He acted. His Spirit hovered like a bird above the void.
Then He spoke, “Let there be light.” And there was light.
Light!
Shining from One in whom there is no darkness AT ALL (I John 1: 5)
I am struck anew by how the first three verses of the Bible illustrate Divine Reversal, a transformation from darkness to light, from chaos to order, from nothing to something. And this theme continues throughout the pages of scripture, including the New Testament.
For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. (II Corinthians 4: 6 KJV)
Wow! God commands light to shine out of darkness. He is serious about light shining in our hearts and what light brings. Vision. Understanding. Revelation. Hope.
Where do you need light to shine out of darkness?
My prayer for you today is that the spirit of God would hover upon the areas of your life that seem void, empty, waste, and dark just like He did in creation. May you hear God’s voice proclaiming into your innermost being, “Let there be light!”
Through His light, may your vision be clear. May your understanding be accurate. May your hope be secure.
Let there be light!
In what areas do you need light? What areas have you seen His light shine? Comment below!
