December 18th

It's Always Too Soon to Quit

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. 2 Corinthians 4:6

I wish that I could have been there, you know, when God created the world.

What did it look like before He first spoke? All we know is that it was empty and void, filled with nothing and completely dark. Yet there He was, moving over the waters, and then He spoke-Let there be light!-and BOOM, light flooded the darkness and it was no longer empty. My eyes can't even stand turning on the bathroom light in the middle of the night, so I don't know how I'd handle it, but I'd just love to see the glorious scene of when God created light.

Thankfully, God gives each and every one of us the chance to have this very scene recreated in us. And thankfully all the more because so many of us these days feel like the darkness is so present in our own lives.

But here's the thing about darkness-it's a matter of perception. We know that we're surrounded by darkness when our senses perceive that it's dark, right? Well, if you're going to drive at night, when it's dark, then what do you do? You turn on your headlights. Or if you take a walk in the dark, what do you take with you? You bring along a flashlight.

And why do you use lights when it's dark? Because you know that as soon as you turn on the light, the darkness goes away. Darkness doesn't stand a chance against light! So then it's not dark anymore, at least not where you are, and your perception of things is quite different than just a moment before. In fact, your perception is so different that you can bring your light to everyone else who still thinks it's dark.

Your car has headlights, your lamp has light bulbs, but your light is none other than Jesus Himself. When you know the glory of God in Jesus Christ, then our verse today is clear that His light is already, right now shining inside of you.

Does seeing your life with the light of Jesus immediately change your circumstances? No, more often than not, it doesn't. However, it does give you light by which you can begin working with confidence to change them, which is a drastic improvement over life in the dark.

Most importantly, life in the light of Jesus means that you're never alone. And when you have Jesus with you, you can always say that it's way too soon to quit.

Prayer Lord Jesus,

Thank You for shining Your light in me, and thank You that I'm never alone! Thank You that I don't face the dark circumstances of my life by myself. I choose to look at my life through Your light so that I can have the strength to begin working my way up again.

Amen