Psalm 139:11-12 - The 31 Day Challenge

If I say, "Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me," even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for the darkness is as light to you."

These two verses have been the hardest for me to memorize.  It is a bit like a riddle that needs untangling or a puzzle to be solved.  My brain just cannot quite get the words in the right spot.

I recently realized that I had become so focused on trying to get the words straight in my head that I was missing the message.  Trying again to commit it to my memory, I said just those two verses over and over.  The light began to dawn in my head.  (Pun totally intended here!)  

Where can I go to hide from the light?  Logically, we might think we could hide in the dark, but spiritually that is never going to work.  We cannot hide from God.  Even when we are cloaked in the darkness of this world, we still cannot hide from Him.

There are so many verses that talk about light in the Bible from the beginning to the end.  Light is part of the Creation story:  God said, "Let there be light," and there was.  God is the Creator of the physical concept of light.  But it is so much more than that.  Isaiah prophesies that a great light will shine in the darkness.  John the Baptist declares that he prepares a path for the light of the one who is to come.  And then, of course, Jesus himself, "I am the light of the world."  Revelation 21 reveals that when Jesus returns, He will shine so brightly that we won't even need the sun or moon.

So when I think of Jesus being the Light in Psalm 139, it makes more sense to me.  The darkness and night in these verses are talking more about spiritual darkness than anything else.  Jesus is the Light of the World. There is no corner too hidden, no crevice too deep, no far-off space that He cannot-and will not-go.  Nothing is too dark for Him.

In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus gives the familiar words about being a light to others.  Don't light a lamp, and put it under a bushel basket.  Light that lamp and set it on top of a hillside where others will be drawn to it.  Reflect His glory through your words and actions.

Not sure where to go?  Jesus will direct your paths.  "Your word is a lamp unto my path and a light unto my feet." (Psalm 119). He will give you enough light for you to keep putting one foot in front of the other; just trust in Him and He will show you the way, one step at a time.

Open up your heart, and let Jesus the Light of the World shine in it and through it!

(Anybody else suddenly feel like singing "This Little Light of Mine"?)