Remember when you were a kid and you were afraid of darkness? Has that fear gone away, or now that you are a big boy/girl do you just pretend its not there so as not to appear childish, while you go out of your way to avoid dark places because its socially unacceptable for adults to wet their pants?

Darkness and fear go hand-in-hand. That’s why when you are in darkness its so important to know why its dark, and where the light is.

I John 1:5 says “God is light; in him there is no darkness at all.” All light. No darkness.

If you find yourself in the darkness you can know that it didn’t come from God. God doesn’t do darkness. He can’t! He’s all light. Light can’t create darkness. Dark is anti-thetical to the properties of light. Can water leap into flames? No! And in the same way, he who is light does not produce darkness.  The darkness isn’t from him.

So, why are we in the dark?

There are two reasons I can think of for why we experience darkness. First, we may be in the dark because we are too far away from the light source. Thus, its light is not shining where we are. The second reason is that something is standing between us and the light so that we are in the shadows.

If you find yourself in the dark, and you recognize that you have never been near the light source, or you have been near the light but you’ve drifted away; run to the light. James 4:8 says “Come near to God and he will come near to you.” God will meet you way more than half way. He’s just looking for any indication you are moving his direction.

If you find yourself in the dark suddenly, and after examination you realize that you haven’t drifted from closeness to God, it means that you are in a shadow. Something, maybe something big, has stepped between you and the light. It may be uncertainty about your job. It may be a person who has drifted from God causing you to fear for them and for your relationship which casts a shadow over you. It may be illness. It may be loss. It could be anything. Whatever it is, you must realize that the shadow is created because the problem has wedged itself between you and the light. That’s why its so important that we “Fix our eyes on Jesus…” (Hebrews 12:2) Don’t look away. Something might obscure your vision and you can’t refocus when you turn back in his direction.

When you realize you are in the darkness of the shadow, fix it. Analyze what’s between you and God. It is real or perceived? If it is real, what can you do to fix or eliminate it? Do it. And finally, speak to it. Speak to it? Yes, speak to it. Jesus said in Mark 11:23 “If any of you shall say to this mountain ‘Go throw yourself into the sea’ and does not doubt in his heart but believes, it shall be done for him.”

For most of my life, I haven’t spoken to my mountains. I’ve agonized over them, fretted and feared them, and cried out to God to move them. But I’ve come to realize that one of the gifts that God places in us when we believe is a mountain moving type of power. So today, I ask God to move the mountain, AND, I ask God to empower me to move the mountain, AND, I speak to the mountain and tell it to move. That’s a way in which personally, my faith becomes substance.

If you’ve never been in the habit of speaking to mountains, this may seem a little weird to you. That’s OK. We’ve all gotta start somewhere. Don’t make this faith thing harder than it is. Simple start walking in it. The next time you are in the darkness of a shadow, speak to the mountain. Then, begin looking intently through the mountain and you’ll begin to see the light shining ever brighter on the other side.

Afraid? I would be, except I know how to turn on the light and I’ve quit making excuses for why I’m in the darkness.

Are you afraid? I dare you to employ the principles I’ve talked about here. But wait! You might want to grab your sunglasses first. I see a bright light in your future.