“The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.” John 1:5 NKJV

I had just finished putting up the outdoor lights and stepped back to make sure they looked good from a distance. Though not an expert, they passed MY inspection so I went inside… job done! There is only 1 week until Christmas Eve and we are well along on the decorating and preparations for what is to come. Let’s just say that darkness APPEARS to not prevail at our house! But looks can be deceiving!

When it was time for bed, I went outside to pull the plug on the house lights. Not having even given it a thought, I went to the edge of the patio and pulled the light string from the socket… only to be enveloped in blinding darkness! It was such a shock I had to stop and wait for my eyes to catch up before I could make my way back to the door.

Every single person, at some point in his or her life, goes through a time of darkness. Whether it be darkness from failure, darkness because of sin, or the darkness of sorrow. There is no escaping the fact that darkness is all around us. Sometimes, darkness hits with such a force and immediacy, that it can cause us to wonder, “Will the darkness ever pass? Will I ever be able to see again?”

The answer to that question was given over 2,000 years ago when Jesus Christ came into the world. To many Jews in that day, it looked like darkness was going to win. And while most people were afraid of the dark oppression of the Roman Empire, Jesus came to open their eyes to the reality of something even darker… the darkness of their own sin.

Everyday we face walking in darkness or artificial light…versus walking in the Light of Christ. Sometimes it isn’t so easy to see which is the best way to go, since feelings and fears can easily distort our view. When sin, disappointment or death crashes in suddenly, it can blind us as to our next step.

The verse today says of God’s light, that ‘the darkness did not comprehended it.’ Humans cannot understand heavenly and spiritual truth unless we are guided by the Holy Spirit to understand. But that takes commitment and discipline to STOP, take our eyes off of ourselves, and put them onto God and WAIT until we can see. It is with those ‘Spirit eyes’ that we need to focus when we are about to pull the plug on the artificial light around us, or when someone, or something else, pulls it for us. Do YOU comprehend?