Leaving the Shadows

Most people are afraid of the dark on some level. For some it’s a phobia that is crippling, and others its mildly disconcerting, but yet there is a level of fear. It’s in the dark that our imagination can run wild. Every noise our shadow brings about expectations of our worst nightmares.

At summer camp, when I was a child, there was a team building exercise about overcoming fear, but it was at night in the dark. We would lineup with a counselor in the front and a counselor in the back and our whole cabin in between had to hold on to a rope. We hiked the trails without flashlights trusting our counselor to keep us on the path.

As you spend time in the darkness at night, your eyes begin to adjust to the darkness and you can make out shadowy images of your surroundings. The stars would come out and help some on the open trail. We would arrive at a stretch of trail that went through thick trees and stop. The lead counselor would tell us to wait here as he walked into the pitch black forest. Then one by one, the remaining counselor would have us drop the rope and walk, not run, into the unknown until we found our leader.

I am one who doesn’t scare easily. I thought it was no big deal and couldn’t understand why some of my cabin mates were almost crying. So I would volunteer to go first. It was as I stepped into the abyss that I began to second guess my confidence. I had fight the urge to run. As the darkness enveloped me the hairs on the back of my neck stood at attention and I could hear my heart beating. Every ghost story flooded through my mind. The crickets were screaming at me and I heard a twig snap. I imagined big foot or a warewolf would snatch me. I too began to succumb to my fears until…

A dark form was ahead of me in a clearing. Once again I could see starlight and the silhouette of my counselor became clearer. Relief! Then denial that I was ever afraid and the desire to go scare my cabin mates. Fortunately I once again suppressed my desire and I began to yell back, “I made it safely you can do it too!”

What is it about darkness that brings out our worst fear? A better question, why is the light so comforting?

These images of light and darkness are familiar to the Biblical story. It is a parallel that Jesus would use to describe Himself as the Light and use darkness as a picture of sin. The Word of God describes this whole world as being dark because of sin.

We live in a dark world and the result is that our eyes have adjusted to the darkness. We see things, but they are only shadows or silhouettes of what is really there. We may not recognize it, but apart from Jesus, we are living lives in that stretch of darkness between clearings. We are so desperate, alone and afraid, jumping at every noise searching for something, but not knowing what it is.

Jesus entered this dark world to bring light and life. He knew we were trapped and wandering in darkness. He is the light that brings life to us, and the darkness cannot overcome Him (John 1:4-5). He calls to us to come out of the darkness and into the light!

“I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” (John 8:12 ESV)

Leave the abyss, the vast void of shadows and see for the first time. When we trust Jesus, our eyes our open, the veil is lifted and we can see for the first time. The world cannot understand this apart from Christ.

Going on a day hike, I remember crossing over the first clearing and arriving at the same point we had to begin our courageous walk in the darkness. In the day light it looked like a joke. At night it looked like the dark fortress of Saruman, in the daylight it was a beautiful glade. At night it seemed like miles, in the daylight it was only a dozen or so yards. At night it was a gauntlet of nightmares, in the daylight there was nothing to fear.

The landscape didn’t change. The same trees were there. The clearings were the same distance apart. Darkness didn’t change the landscape, the Light only revealed the truth.

When we trust Christ as our Savior, we begin to see the same things in our lives. In the darkness our fears reign, in Christ our Lord reigns.  The reality is, we are humans living in a dark world, the landscape doesn’t change, only we have the Light to walk with us.

As we begin to navigate life by walking the Light, we will live transformed lives. Our obedience to our Savior means that we will have a different attitude about everything. No longer can we hold to the distorted views of the shadows, but must trust the revelation the Light brings. This life is no longer to be lived by fears or selfishness, but to be lived in a confident dependence upon our Savior and selflessly given to others. When we allow the Light to transform our lives, we will cause the people still living in the darkness to wonder and give glory to our Father in heaven (Matthew 5:16).

Have you trusted the Light? If you are a follower of Christ, are you still living with eyes trusting the distorted shadows or are you allowing the Light to transform your vision. Jesus came to show us the true life, don’t trust the shadows (John 10:10).