Beacon of Light
From the 21-Day Light of the World Advent Devotional
“While you have the light, believe in the light, that you may become sons of light” (John 12:36).
The darkness of the room was enveloping. It was the middle of the night. Evan had waited as long as he could to keep his meltdown at bay. Back in familiar surroundings, he let out his frustrations in the dark of the room. My man-child didn’t have the words to say what he needed or how he hurt, and it felt like the night would never end. I opened the curtains to find some light, anything besides our dark room. I only found more darkness across the city. It was as if the darkness just grew bigger.
We had been on the surgical floor of our pediatric hospital and were about to be moved back to the oncology floor. We didn't know when we were going. Evan had special needs, and in the middle of his treatment for bone cancer, he needed surgery. Routine still ruled as he dealt with the challenges of his diagnosis from birth with the newest one of cancer. We needed to get back to our routine on the oncology floor, even if that meant going in the bleak of the night.
Have you ever been in the shadows of your bedroom at night and found that everything seems worse? You lie awake stewing, anticipating something that may or may not be on the horizon of daylight. Darkness somehow makes our anxiety worse. That’s how we felt in the utter darkness of that hospital room.
Jesus says in John 12:35, “The one who walks in the darkness does not know where he is going.” Without the light of Christ leading us, it’s like we’re wandering around in the dark without help. That might seem doable until we open the metaphorical curtains and realize it is even darker outside.
That night in the hospital, we looked out of our window full of anxiety and meltdown despair. But then we let our eyes focus somewhere other than ourselves. I saw tiny pockets of light in the distance. I asked Evan if he saw the red light, the green light, the blue light. There were many lights in the darkness, like tiny beacons leading us to look outside of our circumstances.
Wandering in the darkness without believing in the light, the light of Christ, can leave us burdened. We might even throw fits ending in meltdowns. But while we have the light of Christ leading us to believe and become sons and daughters of that light, darkness fades. We know where we are going.
We didn’t fall asleep that night in the hospital. Lights in the distance grew from tiny beacons to the larger light of day. The meltdown faded to an underlying endurance that only light can bring. And that’s what the light of Christ does: when we’re sons and daughters of the light, we have a beacon of light strengthening us and showing us the way.
Prayer: Lord, thank you for your light in the darkness, leading us to a belief in Christ, so that we may become your sons and daughters. We are grateful for the saving life and light of Christ.
Dig Deeper: Read John 8:12.
Discussion Questions:
When have you felt darkness or despair and needed to believe the light of Christ was leading you out of darkness?
How can you, as a daughter of the light, be a source of light, a beacon, to someone who may need Christ?