“In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” John 1:4-5
The door swinging shut was like plunging into an abyss. I stood for a moment in the stunned shock of a lost sense. A long repressed fear manifested in a disquieting shiver as the gloom of darkness seeped into my being.
In the disorienting gloom, my hands spring out as like the sudden sensory loss might cause me to crash into a surrounding wall. I groped for a wall. My fingers, landing upon textured drywall, immediately began sweeping the surface as if trying to read indiscernible Braille. My eyes strained against the blackness in a futile attempt to distinguish the outline of the light switch.
I knew the switch had to be somewhere near the door, in its usual place. My hands began to swing in large radii in the desperate attempt to find light. My search was going disconcertedly nowhere. In mounting frustration, I paused.
In that pause, my eyes adjusted to the lack of light.
The pupils of my eyes dilated to a degree that captured all the light available. I had not noticed any light when the door had initially closed. However, my eyes now collected a sliver of light that was penetrating the door at the threshold. It was not much light but it was enough.
Having opened up to the light, my eyes were able to distinguish the faint outline of a switch right in front of me. I flipped the switch without thinking and immediately was hit by a rush of light into my wide open eyes that nearly dropped me to my knees.
My floundering in darkness reminded me of the amazing nature of the eye. The eye is a marvelous organ for the regulation of light. The iris of the eye has two types of muscle. There is a ring of sphincter muscles that encircle and constrict the pupil down to a couple of millimeters across to prevent too much light from entering. There is another set of dilator muscles that can expand the pupil in low light. The function of the iris is to pull in all the light necessary so that we are not blind.
The human body was created for light.
We were specifically designed to let light in.
I wonder if our soul isn’t similarly designed.
We were designed to have the true light of the world within us.
Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “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
Yet, sinful man sits imprisoned in the gloomy darkness of a closed off soul. The sinful desires of the flesh have constricted their soul, preventing the light of the world from entering in. They grope about in search of the light but they cannot find the source. Yet, the source is all around them. They cannot see because the pupil of their soul is closed.
I am the Lord; I have called you in righteousness; I will take you by the hand and keep you; I will give you as a covenant for the people, to open the eyes of the blind, to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon, from the prison those who sit in darkness. Isaiah 42:6-7
Every person needs God to dilate the pupil of their soul. God overcomes the power of sinful flesh in order to open our souls to His penetrating light; He opens the eyes of the blind. The light of the glory of God flowing into a dilated soul drops every sinner to their knees.
The Christian life is merely learning to live in the light; learning to live with a dilated soul. Our sinful nature continues to want to clamp down and close out the light of the world; it has malfunctioned into regulating the amount of light that can be let in. Repentance and following Christ is a continual process of yielding to the dilation of our soul.
We were created to have the light of life. Thankfully, God has not left us in the darkened prison of our closed souls.
“The pupil dilates in darkness and in the end finds light, just as the soul dilates in misfortune and in the end finds God.” Victor Hugo, Les Miserables
PRAYER: Lord, thank you for not leaving me in darkness. Thank you for sending your Son, the light of the world, to lead me out of the dungeon of my own darkened soul and into the light of life. Father, continue to dilate my soul; continue to open up my heart to your light. Do not let the cares of this world constrict my desires and prevent your light for entering into me. Help me to walk in your light in all things and at all times. I pray this in the precious name of your Son, Jesus Christ. Amen
A DEVOTED LIFE 