Walking in Light

I honestly don't know how to start this post, my heart is so overwhelmed with the glory of God and the true good and faithful character of God.  I feel like my head is going 100 miles a minute and I can't form my words to save my life, but I am going to try.  About a year and a half ago I was reading though 1 John in the bible and was struck by verse 5. "God is light; in him there is no darkness at all." Literally in my bible this verse is highlighted in purple and the words "at all" are underlined.  I wasn't quite sure what it meant, but for some reason every time I look at it I find myself pausing and dwelling on the verse.  Earlier this morning I was praying, and I specifically prayed that God would use my blog to share his truth.  Without God there is NO purpose, and I want my blog to have purpose.  By the end of the prayer this verse was yet again placed on my heart.  SO, I am taking it as a sign to start the process to uncover what the Lord wants me to get from it.  I by NO MEANS am an expert on the Bible, know all about the culture, or facts about the time period in which it was written.  But, I am going to try and let the Holy Spirit lead, and see what happens.

"God is light; in him there is no darkness at all." - 1 John 1:5

Why do bad things happen to good people?  or better question... Why does GOD let bad things happen to good people?  Typically, when we give into these questions and start to believe them we loose sight of the character of God.  God is love.  God works for our Good.  Those are truths.  Believe them! So, when things in the world happen like divorce, death, lies, betrayals, hatred, murders, abuse, and so much more God is working for our good?  That doesn't seem right, does it?  That's because it's not right.  As human beings we are unable to see the full plan on God.  If God's plan is the ocean, we are like ants.  We can not comprehend it.  Okay, so if that's the case.. and in the end the plan will end good.. the verse says "in him there is no darkness at all."  In him, in his plan, in who Christ is there is no darkness.  Then why as a believer in Jesus Christ do I have a heck load of obstacles, trials, and seem to be experiencing incredibly dark days?  I could take the easy way out and just say "sin" and be done with this verse.. but I think it is so much more than that!

I don't know about you, but I like to be in control.  I like to know what is going to happen and when it is going to happen.  I like to have the final say, and sometimes I find that I am this way with God.  God wants ALL of you, but sometimes I want to choose what parts of my life I want God to be control of.  Usually, I give God the easy jobs.  The harder, messy, complicated, and shameful parts of my life I want to keep to myself, because I THINK I can handle them.  This is how darkness creeps into our lives and we find ourselves in ugly situations.

My parents got a divorce when I was in 3rd grade and over the years my earthly father has become less and less of a person I would even call family.  In high school, I found myself eliminating him completely from life.  I was happier, and it made life easier.  Was it really?  No.  I basically told God that my dad was unfixable and that it would be easier for me to just forget about him than it would be to fix him and our relationship.  WHO AM I TO DO THAT!  Who am I to hide things from God.  He already knows, and if I let him, he could definitely handle those circumstances better than I obviously did.  Needless to say, when I was a senior in college, it all caught back up to me.  I found myself getting ready for class and then out of no where breaking down and crying for a straight hour and a half.  God doesn't let us forget or run away from our trials.  He tells us that there is no darkness in him at all because if we allow God into those areas that we are ashamed of or just seem unsalvageable he will show us the light.  We need to give him EVERYTHING.  He deserves the glory, not us.  He works for our good.  He is willing to heal.  So WHY HIDE?  We all have dark spots in our lives.  As a body of Christ wouldn't the Lord be more glorified and be able show us his true power, glory, and majesty if we let him work for our good.  How long can we run?  God is love.  He loves us more than our minds can comprehend.  Trust HIM.  Because, Light truly IS stronger than Darkness.