Eclipse!

Were any of you able to catch the eclipse of the moon last night?  I snuck outside in my PJ’s just before I turned out the lights around 11:00 pm and observed it in its beginning stages.  It was interesting as there seemed to be a dark shadow just starting to cover up about a quarter of the moon’s surface.  I awoke with a start about an hour later remembering that I had left the large window upstairs wide open earlier in the day.  So, I tossed aside the covers and bounded up the stairs to close it and rest assured that the dog wouldn’t hear something in the middle of the night and tear at the screen!

When I opened the window which resides in the highest point of our home, I had a clear view of the moon… or at least what was left of its reflection of the sun’s light.  Since I had last looked at it, only a slight sliver of it was visible to the eye.  It was kinda cool in that there seemed to be a glow that surrounded the darkened celestial object, and at the same time it was a little creepy to see the dark shadow overcoming the light!

This morning as I read from John chapter eleven, I had some spiritual understanding of what I saw in the drama unfolding in the skies last night.  In verses nine and ten Jesus said, “Those who walk during the day don’t stumble, because they see the light of this world.  However, those who walk at night stumble because they have no light in themselves.” (God’s Word ©)  In the beginning of his epistle, the Apostle John bluntly names Jesus as the “light of men.” (John 1:4 KJV)  Jesus also referred to Himself as the “light of the world” in John 8:12 and 9:5 and as “the bright morning star” in Revelation 22:16.

So, in effect, Jesus was saying that those of us who walked in this light would not stumble over the obstacles that we come across in our daily lives.  John Wesley commented on this verse saying, “because I see the light of this world – I see the light of God surrounding me.”

I came to the shocking reality about ten years ago that I needed to get a pair of reading glasses one Saturday morning when I was helping some youth practice songs for an upcoming drama production that my oldest daughter had written.  When I tried to follow the lines of the song on the jacket of the CD, I was confused when I couldn’t discern the tiny print!  What was funny is that I noticed another supervisor and my boss at work also started wearing them about a week after I first slid on a pair during a staff meeting!  One thing that I have learned is that the brighter the light, the less magnification I need.  And even though I have had to increase the magnification numerous times since that fateful day in the sound booth at church, I can still read the fine print in the unfiltered bright sunlight!

I guess the same could be said for the bright light of Jesus and His Word!  Over the past four years I have observed that the more light of His Word that I get in me, the more able I am to side step the obstacles of doubt and unbelief that attempt to come my way on a daily basis.  Those obstacles come in a variety of expressions.  They may come through a random thought, through something I see on TV, through a medical article on dementia, through the doctor’s report or even through seemingly good meaning Christian friends who respond more to what they see than what the Word may say.

I can’t tell you how many times we have watched a movie that shows a couple in love when a twinge of pain rips at my heart and I look over at a wedding photo of my wife and I hanging on the wall next to wedding portraits of our three married kids and I suddenly hear a voice from deep inside that destroys the thought of sorrow and hopelessness by reminding me of Matthew’s declaration of Jesus’ fulfillment of the Prophet Isaiah’s words where he prophesized that “Himself took our infirmities, and bare our sicknesses,” followed by Peter’s declaration that “by whose strips ye were healed.” (Matthew 8:17, I Peter 2:24, Isaiah 53:5)

The bright light of His Word quickly dispelled the darkness that tried to come upon me!  And just like the eclipse of the moon last night, even though it was temporarily covered, a glow of light still encircled it giving us the expectation of its eventual reemergence to light up the evening skies!  So keep the light on and keep it shining bright to guide you through your daily activities.  Have a great day!  Stay in tune to His Word and Keep asking yourself… What or Whom am I expecting today?”