The light shines in darkness

The bible is such an incredible book. In it you find both the “what actually happened / what you did” versus “what should have happened / what you were supposed to do” scenarios. The bible gives us a full picture of what life should look like for the child of God. It is also a book full of God’s fierce love, His jealous love and His determined love for His people. I have been reading through the Old Testament and I have been amazed at the many examples I have encountered of people that have lived a life worth noting. People that did what the Lord expected them to do in the worst of times. People who shined in the darkness. People who loved their God more than their world. Indeed, people who were friends of God and not of the world (James 4:4). Today’s post is simply a reminder that as children of God, we have an obligation to live right, to do right irrespective of our circumstances. As a matter of fact, we can do right in difficult times, because Christ has made it possible; his Spirit living in us enables us to do so. We are children of the light (1 Thessalonians 5:5), in fact, we are the light of the world as Jesus called us in Matthew and we are commanded to do what the light does, that is shine so that people “might see your good deeds and glorify God in heaven” (Matthew 5:14-16). I would like to look at two examples in the bible of people like you and me who shone brightly in the darkness.

The first example is found in none other than the book of Ruth. Ruth is placed in a time where “Israel had no kings and everyone did what they saw fit”. Let me illustrate an example of what “everyone doing what they saw fit” looked like. In Judges 19, we hear of a Levite whose concubine had left because of her unfaithfulness, and how he went to bring her back to his house. However, on their way back, the concubine was given by her Levite husband to be raped and abused by a mob all night in his stead. I hope you can see the depravity of the situation during Ruth’s days and its extent. It is almost unbelievable that at a time like this light could still shine in a place like Israel. Well, Ruth was different. She had every reason to be sad, every reason to feel dejected being a widow and a foreigner, every reason to give in to cheap ways to provide for herself and her mother-in-law but that is not what we find in her. She was a hard working woman, a woman of valour, a woman of value. Being a foreigner in Israel, she knew life would not be easy, she knew she did not deserve anything but instead of feeling sorry for herself or feeling like she couldn’t do anything, she worked, she provided, she humbled herself. As she had vowed to follow her mother-in-law’s God, and to not leave her, she remained true to her words. Ruth was such a breath of fresh air to the point that she put the Israelites women to shame, she did what many would not have done. She showed them what it meant to obey God, what it meant to be pleasing to the Father. She showed them how to be a woman of virtue. She was indeed a good wife, excellent in her dealings, honourable, and honoring. She put others before herself. Honestly, seeing this kind of love and kindness was light. Because of Ruth’s character and deeds, many were able to glorify God in heaven. Ruth showed her contemporaries that God is still in heaven and that He is still ready to deliver Israel if we would only yield to Him.

The second story of a light shone in the darkness is the story of the people of Israel coming together as one man before the Lord to fight their brothers the Benjamites. You see, the death of the Levite’s concubine was such a horrible act that the people of Israel who had no kings remembered their Lord. They could not let an act as heinous as that go unpunished. In a time where it was least expected, the name of the Lord was remembered, the Lord was sought again collectively by His people. Being a good and faithful God, He let himself be found. He further gave victory to Israel over the tribe of Benjamin who had committed the horrible act of raping and murdering the Levite’s concubine. This story allowed Israel to shine its light, to be the people of God again. Being able to come as one man, under the authority of God was something that had not been done in such a long time. As a matter of fact, many had forgotten that the LORD was their God. Idolatry was so rampant that the Israelites assimilated the LORD to the carved images they had built for themselves.

I believe the book of Judges has been written for us specifically to see how light still shone in the darkness. In that book, which does not fail to paint the truthful picture of what happened, we get to see glimpses of hope here and there. People who, as stated in Hebrews 11 displayed such powerful faith, showing that they had an eternal hope of glory they aspired to. In a book like this you see how God is still at work even in the darkest situations. We see hope, joy, peace, justice, goodness, kindness, everything that God stands for in full display. I thank God that He is always in control, always working behind the scene, always with the final word, always working of our good and His glory. God is good people, God is so, so, so, good. Sometimes, the simplest praises are the best. Be encouraged, God is good. Like the song says “his plans are still to prosper”. Amen.