When we are surrounded by darkness, whether it be everyday drudgery and frustration or times of acute despair, it is easy to feel like we are wallowing in darkness, unable to see far enough ahead to even step out in faith. It is during those times when the darkness is so thick and pervading that we often start to feel like we are suffocating for lack of light and the darkness can begin to fold in around us. It’s an awful feeling and it’s easy to get caught up in the fear that we will never see the light again.
I am reminded of one of the many times I have sat outside at twilight with my daughter and my husband. The light slowly crept away and the darkness softly curled in, until unexpectedly we were sitting in a velvet, pitch black night. The longer we sat, the darker it became. The trees crowded in around us, the faint night sounds grew progressively louder until even the familiarity of our own backyard became something slightly uncomfortable.
Despite the unease created by the dark, we stayed. Waiting…
Soon we saw just one faint pinprick of light piercing the black sky. The longer we waited and stared, the brighter that one star became. Soon that solitary beacon of light was followed by another, and another until there was a full handful of stars gleaming. Yes, the night was still dark, but the light of those stars changed everything. We weren’t focusing on the dark anymore. We were focusing on the light.
In the matter of half an hour, the entire sky was shot through with the glory of the whole Milky Way. Total darkness was gone, replaced with a sky filled with dazzling, nuanced light. This is the way I picture the word of God piercing the darkness of our spiritual night. The first part of Psalm 119:130 says, “The unfolding of Your words gives light.” As we focus on what God is saying to us through the reading of the Bible, the darkness fades away, the unseen becomes seen, and the misunderstood becomes understood.
I like the use of the word “unfold” in this verse. God, in His loving grace and through His word, reaches into our dark, aching souls and, pinprick by pinprick of light, His glory unfolds until we are filled with His wonderful, glorious light that pushes the darkness back and allows us to bask in His love. We might still be surrounded by darkness, but we don’t notice it because our focus has changed. We are focusing on the Light!
