Where does the road of decision and expectation meet in a world that is clogged with the traffic of emotional clutter and spiritual deprivation? Is there any room left for expectation? Is it possible that amidst the era of responsibility we have forgotten the childlike quality of joy found in anticipation of the unknown?
You’re here, but not because of expectation. You’re here because of the habit insists you do so and community and culture expect the same. In the beauty of creation and the wonder of God’s majesty how often do we pause and reflect that the wonder is all around and has never left? It is constantly revealed and needs not the understanding of the created to inspire its existence. There are glimpses into the awe and breath of the creator and we are never left disappointed at these revelations. But we have forgotten Him. We have forgotten that the awe is constant even though our faithfulness may indeed not be. And that’s ok, as long as we remember the path back to the awe and the breath of Him…of our Savior.
When the path is clear and illuminated the darkness appears that much darker. The light opens the eyes to what should be seen and the result is that deceptive shadows that once appeared all around us now fade into the background and the light takes center stage. The light that guides. The light that comforts. The light that brings the knowledge that we will be ok and that the darkness is not eternal. The Light is eternal, the love that pours out is eternal and the darkness will never overtake it.
Sometimes the darkness seems to reach far beyond the light and there are indeed times that in the pitch of our rebellion the darkness appears comfortable. But the darkness is never a comfort for long. We will always crave the Light. We will always crave illumination and relief from darkness. We do not welcome physical blindness and we should equally despair if our spiritual blindness extends past our familiarity with the light.
How precious did that grace appear the hour we first believed! The world we exist within has come to expect darkness. The church has come to expect darkness, a lack of animation and wonder has become the norm and we have become satisfied if the norm changes not. We are not built for darkness but darkness becomes comfortable when we no longer expect light. We learn to deal with it, live with it, accept it, like a blinded man who once could see but has no hope of ever doing so again. The blind man accepts blindness because he can truly find no other alternative.
The world sees no other alternative. It accepts the darkness because it yet to discover the Light.
But when the blind are given the chance to see, oh how they cling to that light! How they cherish every hue and saturation and even the shades of grey become alluring. The brightness of the white cloud against the backdrop of blues and yellows and purples and oranges that spash across the sky are artistic works of glory by our creator for us to enjoy and admire. The splendor of vision, when once blinded to the beauty, is not abused and discarded as a sense to which we are entitled. We clutch the ability to see with all of the strength found in our souls and hope…pray…beg that it not be taken from us.
Here is the light we now possess inside. Jesus has come to be this light to the blind – this hope to the hopeless – the splendor of vision to the blinded. And here is when hurt first appears, that the blind would seek to stay blind and when the creator has sacrificed so that what cannot be imagined can be realized.
This burden is so heavy. It crushes my heart to think that someone would be so accustomed to the darkness that they find no need for the light. “What can the light offer that the darkness has not provided?” they say, but this is what ignorant men say. How I hate our enemy for his competent deception. “Give up!” he says, “The darkness is all you need.” And humanity believes.
The body of Christ does not need to rise up to have incredible worship services and sermons and programs. These are ancillary to the genuine call. We are called to be salt….and… LIGHT. The norm of the church should be the revelation of Christ – that the blind should see – some for the first time – some for the 100th. The moments of corportate worship, prayer, and even hearing the teaching of the Word of God are simply the rally cry to be Light in the darkness.
Oh that we would have the chance to, in the unmeasureable moment of God’s grace and overwhelming love, show someone the Light for the first time. This is a joy that we cannot reproduce at our will, but must deliver at His will when He asks us to do so. Or to bring someone back to the Light when they had forgotten how beautiful it is… the redemptive plan of Christ unveiled once again.
Reconciliation to our creator is so unspeakably breathtaking. The blind will reject you and mock you for offering such an “imaginary ploy” called “light”. It’s because their imagination cannot allow the existence of such a light to exist. The mind cannot imagine the unimaginable but when it is revealed we stutter in amazement of how we did not before see the need. This light is not imaginary, but it does require faith to see it. But to see it would change everything.
He HAS changed everything.