The Light Prevails
“The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of deep darkness a light has dawned.” Isaiah 9:2
The season of Advent began yesterday. Over the next few weeks Christians will be preparing for the celebration of Christmas. Advent is a time of waiting and eager anticipation. It seems to me that the natural year offers us a helping hand for Advent. This is the time of year when the nights are long. Many people find the long nights disconcerting. It doesn’t seem right for it to be getting dark when it’s barely 4:00 p.m. Some folks even experience depression as a result of the longer nights. That’s understandable. As a general rule, we long for light.
Right now a lot of us are longing for longer days. Those days of extended light will soon be here. After December 21 the time of daylight will begin to lengthen. At the winter solstice we celebrate that the darkness does not prevail. That is a theme of Advent as well. The darkness that prevails in the world right now will not last forever. A better day is coming, a day characterized by light.
The prophet Isaiah lived in a time of spiritual darkness and prophesied that “a great light” would dawn upon the people. Christians believe that he spoke of the coming Messiah and that his words were fulfilled with the birth of Jesus. It was a bright light in the sky that led the Wise Men or Magi to the Christ child. Later Jesus would identify himself as the “light of the world.” The author of the Fourth Gospel declared “In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” (John 1:4-5)
I am thankful that God’s Light was revealed to us in such a marvelous way that first Christmas. Over the years that Light has brought me much comfort and joy. It has also brought me a great deal of hope. I look forward to the day when that Light will be made manifest in all his glory. In the meantime we will have to endure periods of darkness and do all we can to share the light of Christ with others. How encouraging it is to know that sooner or later brighter days will come. The Light will, in fact, prevail over the darkness. Our Advent hope will be fulfilled.
–Chuck