I am the Lord, I have called you in righteousness; I will take you by the hand and keep you; I will give you a covenant for the people; a light for the nations, to open eyes that are blind, to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon, from the prison those who sit in darkness.

Isaiah 42: 6, 7

 

There are so many times when the thing that we need can be one of the most fundamental and basic components of our universe; yet, despite its seeming abundance, true light can be awfully elusive. I know that I can be standing out in the open on the clearest day of the year with the rays of the sun beating down on me and still have a heart that is shaking from the effects of the bitter cold of helplessness and hopelessness that life has poured on it. This condition is real; yet, it is not necessary. God will bring the light of His truth and love into the center of my being, and His light is of such a great intensity that it will melt away even the hardest frost of these times of living in the winter of despair.

 

The Lord’s light comes into my life in many ways, too. He has given it to me through my acceptance of Christ and the resulting infusion of the Spirit of God into me. He has given me the ability to understand the deep truths of His Word, for God literally speaks to His own through the Spirit’s illumination of the printed text. The Lord also brings people into my life that care about and for my needs and who are confident and honest enough to do what ever is required to bring me back to the center of God’s will. God wants all of us to be the recipients of His light so that we can live in the freedom of His grace. Also He wants us to be light bearers so that we can bring the truth of His love to anyone who is bound in the chains of captivity that evil tries to keep locked around all people’s hearts and minds.

 

As we live in the freeing warmth of God’s light, we are called by Him to seek those who have been made ill by living in the cold. Then we are directed and empowered to administer the healing medicine of Christ’s loving touch to them. We are also called to seek out the people and the places where oppression rules and bring the lock smashing blows of God’s hammer of truth to bear against that bondage. In order to fulfill the mission to which God has called us, we need to keep seeking the light of Christ’s truth, stay close to others who are doing the same, and allow God’s Word the center place in our own reality. Satan brings on the coldness of despair; the warmth of God’s light sets us free.