The Light of the World

15 Aug The Light of the World

Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”  – John 8:12

One thing I wasn’t aware of before moving to Honduras is the fact that it’s very common that the electricity go at least once a week.  And sometimes that “once a week” ends up lasting for a whole day at a time. It is almost always without warning and without a doubt the most inconvenient times.

When the electricity goes out, it throws off so many of our daily routines.  It means we don’t have a working stove or oven to cook with.  We can’t do laundry.  We have to use flashlights and we can’t see well to take cold showers.  Lastly, there is no air conditioning at night. If I’m completely honest, it makes all of us a little grumpy because we don’t have all of the things we often take for granted. We realize almost weekly just how accustomed we’ve become to these comforts.

And through all of the frustrations and setbacks, we are taught repeatedly that our strength (and our patience) comes from Christ and reminded to be thankful for the ways our dependence on anything other than Him is being broken.

In fact, today I am writing this blog with 8% battery remaining, during yet another power outage in my pitch black living room.  This week has been a long one.  This is our third power outage in the last 4 days.  I probably should be thinking about what I’m going to scrounge up for dinner without a stove or oven or how I’m going to get my cold shower in after forgetting to charge the flashlights from our last outage….

But instead, God is speaking to me through the darkness and He is reminding me of one thing…

He IS the light of the world.

When I turn off my phone, I can’t see my own hand in front of my face. Our youngest foster son (youngest boy “A”) often wakes up crying at night when we have no electricity because it is just so dark that it terrifies him. All of the streetlights go out as well. And all that is left is so, so dark.  It is complete darkness….

And right now, God is reminding me of that moment that ever anticipated moment when the electricity finally comes back on.  Generally it’s late at night when all the lights in the house immediately flash back on and we are bathed in a light that feels brighter than ever before.  It’s the moment we hear all our neighbors (especially the Bowman girls!!) screaming with joy because we finally have what we’ve been waiting for!

And that is exactly what Christ is. That darkness that feels so overwhelming, that feels like a burden, that keeps us from seeing what is really there, He takes that all away. He brings light, He brings joy. He is the one we are waiting for!

Tonight, while sitting in the living room surrounded by complete darkness, we’ve have been given the opportunity to share this to our three kiddos.  They have at least learned a bit more about who Christ is.  So tonight, we are thankful.  Thankful that the lights went out.  Thankful we got to use it to teach our kids about the true Light of this World.

God Bless!  Chris Weeks