Memory From A Cavern

"This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all.  If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth.  But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin." --From I John, chapter one

Sometimes I wish we would plan ahead for the inconvenient things that can happen. For example, when the power goes out in our house at night we are usually scurrying to find a light source. Probably most of you know exactly where to reach a flash light or some matches and a lamp or a candle when that happens. Not us!

No, indeed! One recent evening it began to rain. Thunder rumbled and our lights went out just as a loud crash almost shook the house. It was easy to find a candle holder and place it on the bar in the kitchen. Earlier in the day a box of matches stood nearby. I blindly felt along the counter for that box, but it was nowhere to be found. "Oh, no", I thought, "what if the electricity is off all night long like it was the last time?" What a pain! It is hard to stumble through the house in the dark. But it wasn't pitch black. There was enough light for us to see our windows, but that was about it.

This incident reminded me of the time we had experienced total darkness in a cavern in Virginia. As the tour guide explained the wonders we saw and heard, he stopped and said that he was going to turn off the lights so that we could experience total darkness. When the light went off, the ensuing blackness was almost palpable. People were awestruck. Nobody spoke. I wondered if anyone could breathe.

Then the guide said that he wanted us to see the effect of a little bit of light in a totally dark place. And he struck a match. It was amazing! There were probably twenty-five or more people in our group and we were spaced quite a distance apart. But the light of that single match was enough for us to see one another quite clearly. Everyone was astounded.

I will never forget that day. It reminded me that Jesus called us lights in the world. It is our place to reflect the light of the Gospel so that others may see and know. When we are discouraged and feel that our light is too dim, we need to remember that is not true. This world is a very dark place. And the more darkness there is, the greater influence our light will have.

God is calling us to be faithful. He will be in charge of the results. Remember what Jesus said: "Let your light so shine before [others] that they may see your good works and glorify your father who is in Heaven."