Let there be...

Who is more foolish, the child afraid of the dark or the man afraid of the light?
~Maurice Freehill

The first flashlight I ever owned was a tiny, disposable keychain flashlight given to me by my grandfather. You couldn’t see four feet with the light it gave, but it was light nonetheless. As a kid, I carried that light everywhere I went until it finally died. Then, as kids are apt to do, I didn’t dispose of it, but continued to carry it around with me pretending that it still worked.
After that, I’ve had too many flashlights to name. There were the penlights from the drugstore used to give myself self-prescribed, childhood tonsil checks. I remember a line of lights with colored lenses that made searching under the bed more interesting. I had a 6-cell police flashlight that was stolen by someone a few years ago, and then one with a large array of tiny LED lights in the front that you couldn’t look directly into or you would see spots before your eyes (while open or closed) for a long while after…I know this fact well.
These thoughts came to mind a couple of days ago as I read an ad for (get this) a “15-million candlepower spotlight.” 15 million. This is the kind of light that is not only highly visible, but nearly audible. The ad, in part, reads:

“The 15 Million Candlepower Spotlight is the world's most powerful cordless handheld spotlight. Its quartz halogen bulb illuminates objects up to a mile away and can be seen even further. Powered by a 12-volt 7 amp/hour sealed lead acid battery, recharge it at home, or in your car's lighter socket. Heavy-duty cage construction makes this spotlight virtually indestructible. Cleverly designed swivel mount lets you point the beam in almost any direction so you can work hands-free.”

I like some of those words, ones like “world’s most powerful” and “up to a mile away.” “Heavy duty” and “virtually indestructible” are great too. I read the ad and sighed. “What a light,” I thought. “Its cleverly designed swivel mount would let me point the beam in almost any direction so I could work hands-free. And I could work hands-free…up to a mile away.” I thought about this today as I read Isaiah, my favorite book in the Old Testament.

"Who among you fears the Lord?
Who obeys the voice of His Servant?
Who walks in darkness
And has no light?
Let him trust in the name of the Lord
And rely upon his God.
Look, all you who kindle a fire,
Who encircle yourselves with sparks:
Walk in the light of your fire and in the sparks you have kindled--
This you shall have from My hand:
You shall lie down in torment. (Is. 50:10, 11)

The immediate context of the passage is those who depend upon something of their own making for salvation, but the implications for those who follow God are clear. I can not create my own light or depend upon my own way or lean unto my own understanding and hope to walk rightly. No matter how many multi-colored lenses I use or how much candlepower I may muster, my understanding, in and of itself, is like darkness before the blinding light of the wisdom of God. Yet I seem to insist, when the way grows dim, on depending upon myself alone and pulling out my own light. I keep thinking that it’s the world’s most powerful one, heavy duty and indestructible too, but the truth is that it is a dead keychain flashlight at best, and I use it in the hope that I will be able to make some sense of the situation in which I find myself.

If you read the passage above, you find that the question is asked, “Who walks in darkness and has no light?” It is in those moments of uncertainty that the next line means so much; “Let him trust in the name of the LORD and rely upon his God.” Sometimes I may not have the light that I think I want, but I know the God I most assuredly need. When the darkness is deep, He is deeper still.


Dustin C. George
Minister to Single Adults
www.sevierheights.org