When I came to Christ as a teenager, I had hoped that he would rush into my life and destroy every sin, every bad habit, every ounce of selfishness in me, every wandering thought, every bit of discontentment and disappointment.

I wanted His blinding light to blast all of this struggle out of my life completely so that I would be almost unrecognizable.

That’s not how its went for me. I"m guessing you too.

Instead, he began his work in me slowly. Very slowly in fact. Over the years I have come to grips with the pace of his work, and have in small ways, understood his means of working in my life.

You see when Christ works slowly, I get to practice what it means to think about Him, pray to him, sing to him, call out to him, talk with others about him. I get to practice my need, and it tethers me to him. I’m anchored by my need of him. When things get dark in my life, I know where to find light. Cause as much as we love a miracle, as much as we love instant transformation…we are quick to walk away and wander off when our needs are met. 

Instead of a blinding light, most of us have experienced something different. He most often starts in us as a small light, undeniable there and glowing, but faint at times. and through the highs and lows of my life  that light has grown in intensity.

As we have walked through the Gospel of John, we recently looked as a church at Jesus as the light of the world. It recalled for me some ways I’ve seen His light shine in my favorite moments with loved ones. He has shined in my own moments of celebration.  And I have seen that even in horrible and painful life circumstances, in the midst of deep loss…the light doesn’t go out. It’s still there. He’s still there.

Jesus is the light of the world, and if you feel today like life is pretty dark, ask for him to show himself to you. He desires to do that. He is eager to move in your life. He desires us all to sing this lyric from Grace Alone with truth, "on my darkened heart the light of Christ has shone."