Do you remember being afraid of the dark? I had a
conversation with one of my children this week about being afraid of the dark. As
I told my child about my own experience growing up it was not the darkness that
scared me but thoughts of what the darkness may be hiding that caused my heart
to tremble. As we talked we agreed that having the light on reassured us that
everything was indeed OK.
This conversation got me thinking about the fears that lurk
in the deep recesses of our hearts. The enemy’s chief weapon of choice in
containing and restraining us as God’s servants is fear. He is constantly
looking for a darkened part of your heart to sow seeds of fear, which left in
the darkness to grow, will become monsters that take over your mind.
That is why it is so important for us to allow God’s light
to shine into the deep recesses of our hearts and minds to expose the lies of
the enemy. God is light and He is truth and just as in the beginning He made
light shine in the darkness (Genesis 1:3), so too He has caused the light of
His truth to shine in our hearts so we can see our need of Jesus, as 2 Corinthians
4:6 says, “He made His light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the
knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.”
In today’s message from Ephesians 1:15-18 Paul is praying to
God for an ongoing process of enlightenment. What is the purpose of this
enlightenment? Hope. The one thing that Satan wants to squeeze out of you, by
the fear he is propagating in the darkness, is hope. But God has a solution:
Allow the revealing power of the light of what God has done through Christ to
expel the darkness from those shadowy recesses of your heart.
How does this happen practically? We prayerfully read the Word
of God (asking the Holy Spirit to reveal truth to us) and allow the light of
truth to examine our heart. We need to come to the Word with a desire to be
empowered; with an expectation to be transformed. But for that to happen we
need to humbly allow the Word to search us (like a torch) and send the darkness
fleeing, along with its fears, so that all that remains is a heart full of hope
because of God’s light shining brightly within.
Some of us may be resisting the Holy Spirit searchlight
being shone in the corners of our heart. But even though there may be a few
things exposed in those dark recesses of our hearts that God wants to sort out,
His light in the heart of the believer is not condemning. It empowers us to see
the truth and the solution that is only found in Jesus.
Afraid of the dark? It’s time we turned on the light and see
things as they truly are!
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