IT'S DARK

Isaiah 5:18-21
18 Woe to those who draw sin along with cords of deceit, and wickedness as with cart ropes, 19 to those who say, "Let God hurry, let Him hasten His work so we may see it. Let it approach, let the plan of the Holy One of Israel come, so we may know it." 20 Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter. 21 Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes and clever in their own sight.

Life takes on different shades when you view it through the eyes of a 2-year-old. With the help of our son Wyatt, I am seeing the world in a kaleidoscope of colors. Most days Wyatt will experience something new--something that is commonplace for those of us who have lived long enough for life to lose its sense of wonder. A few nights ago Wyatt discovered darkness.

We usually put Wyatt to bed around 8:00, and normally he is in his room before the sun closes up shop. At his age, cognitive memory stretches back only 3 or 4 months. So Wyatt did not remember seeing the world we call night.

I didn't realize this until we were driving home from a later than usual evening. Wyatt's attention was fixed out the window. After a bit of staring, he said slowly and deliberately, "Dark." His word was ripe with discovery.

When we got home, he insisted on going to the back door and looking out at his newfound world. He pressed his nose against the cool glass, peered out at black nothingness, where only the faintest hint of the trees' shadows swayed, and said with rapture, "Dark."

Later that night, as I went out on our back deck, the night felt different to me. It was the same, and yet it wasn't. I don't know how to describe it--it was eerie; it was fascinating. It was . . . well, dark. And I can't remember ever seeing dark the way I did at that moment.

It wasn't that I had never experienced darkness before--I experience it every day. It was just that darkness didn't quite seem like darkness to me anymore. I was like the people Isaiah spoke of, the ones who confuse God's light and sin's darkness, who allow them to mingle as if there is no true distinction (Isaiah 5:20).

The painful truth is that the fallen world is dark. Yet God is not. Seeing what is dark will help us to hope in what God is--light. --Winn Collier

destination
points

* Where do I see darkness in my world?
* How have I avoided acknowledging the darkness?
* How can I more fully hope in God's work in my world?

bottom line: See the dark, hope in the light.

soul journey