And It Was Night (2)

So He said, "Come." And when Peter had come down out of the boat, he walked on the water to go to Jesus. But when he saw that the wind was boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink he cried out, saying, "Lord, save me!" Matt. 14: 29-30

OK, we were talking about night and darkness and now we’re climbing out of a boat with Peter in a storm, what happened? Don’t be impatient, I’m getting there.

I was visiting my in-laws on Sunday and as I pulled in their driveway, I saw two young seedlings with blooms starting. Tiny buds were popping out all over that little tree, top to bottom. Is it a coincidence that this began after the beginning of spring? The days have passed the point where darkness rules and every day from now till winter, the days increase in the length of time it is light. The sun brings revival to dormant bulbs, lawns, and trees.

As we talked about, we have access to a life giving light source also. One that is guaranteed to bring revival to the soul – Jesus Christ. While there are many manifestations of “darkness” in our lives, it still comes down to one root cause and one cure.

Look back at our beginning verse. Peter was walking on water! Incredible! That is, until he took his eyes off of Jesus and started to look at the situation surrounding him.

That’s the root cause of our “darkness,” our sinking, also – wandering and taking our eyes from Jesus. You know you’ve done it; we all have. We get busy, we neglect our praying, we neglect our reading, we neglect our praising, and we neglect acknowledging and giving thanks for the blessings in our lives.

So how do we overcome the darkness and get back to the light? The answer is very simple; the “doing” is the challenge: turn on the light! We have access to the light because God has given us access: “For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.” (2Cor 4:6) There is hope in Jesus in every time of darkness. This is His promise: (Luke 1:79) “To give light to those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace." Even though we have this access, we must do something to “turn it on.”

So, here are the steps to get back into the Son-light:

1. Listen for God’s voice. God says to “be still and know that I am God.” This requires some effort on our part. 1Kings 19:11-12 says, “Then He said, ‘Go out, and stand on the mountain before the LORD.’ And behold, the LORD passed by, and a great and strong wind tore into the mountains and broke the rocks in pieces before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake; and after the earthquake a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire; and after the fire a still small voice.” A lot of our problems are that we are not being still and listening for that quiet voice, but allow ourselves to be overwhelmed by the “loud” things in our lives.

Read our Bibles! It is God’s Word after all.

2. Seek Him in every situation. He’s there; it’s a matter of you using your spiritual eyes to see Him. He’s promised to never leave nor forsake us, so it makes sense that he’s always there, doesn’t it? He also tells, plainly, that if we seek Him, we will find Him.

3. Praise Him in every situation. There is nothing in your life that happens that he’s not aware of – nothing! We need to offer praise even the things that we wouldn’t ordinarily think of as “good” things. He has promised to work everything to the good of those who love Him (Romans 8:28).

4. Give thanksgiving in every circumstance. We are commanded to do so (1Thes. 5:18; Col. 3:17), but in doing so, we are reminded of Who God is and what He has done for us. We deserve the death penalty and He has given life. I believe that alone deserves gratitude, don’t you?

We are told, in Ephesians 5:8, to “walk as children of light.” There is only one way to do so, we must stay plugged in to the source of light.