Advent: Light
When I was growing up our elementary school made a field trip every year for sixth graders to Camp Simi on Catalina Island. This was a science trip that would include snorkeling, hiking, learning about marine biology, and of course, the infamous maze! This maze was completely dark and if you were brave enough, you could try to make it through the maze by crawling, climbing, and using your senses to the best of your ability.
You could go in groups, you could talk with others, and you could even ask for help from counselors. There was just one rule: no use of flashlights. So, of course, I brought a flashlight with me—good thing too, because I found a group of students who happened to be stuck. But, when I turned my flashlight on, the darkness of the maze was no longer an issue. We could see, we could find our way through the maze, and we had an amazing time in doing so. We found secret places in the maze that others missed in the darkness. We were able to spend more time enjoying the maze because we could take it all in.
As silly as this sounds, this story reminds me of exactly what Christ Jesus has done in our world. Isaiah 9 is a prophecy of the coming Messiah in which verse 2 describes, “The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of deep darkness a light has dawned.” He has come and given us a way to see. He has revealed His hope, His peace, His joy, and His love by illuminating our minds and hearts with His grace.
He sees us in our maze of life, unable to move forward, unable to find our way into the light, and He brings forth light into our darkness. John 1:5 speaks of this activity in describing Jesus as the light of all humanity, and “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” This light illuminates deepest places of uncertainty, of fear, of hopelessness, and ultimately, leads us into the secret places of joy in His presence and relationship with Him.
In this season of Advent, the darkness of fear, insecurity, doubt, stress, and death continue to try to hide our movement into greater things. But, beloved, the Good News of Jesus is that the Light has come into the world, and we can see! He is our light and salvation, we have nothing to fear (Ps. 27:1). He led the people of God in both night and day with His light and fire, we can be confident in His leading us to promise (Ex. 13:21). And the light could not be contained in the darkness of death, but rather the resurrection shows us that even the grave stone is rolled away when the Son rises (Mk. 16:1-8).
As we stop in this season to reflect upon this light, we must stop at the manger of the One who is called the Light of the world, and gives us His Spirit to be the light of the world as well. We are not crawling and climbing through the maze of this life without a light. We are equipped, we can see, we are invited into the secret places, and we can help others who are stuck along the way. Rest in His light, beloved. He wants to illuminate your whole life. He wants to eradicate darkness and fear. And, maybe when we allow His light to illuminate our path we will walk in the fullness of His hope, peace, joy, and love. Amen.
