Where Did the Light Go?

I’ll let you in on a little secret: there was an eclipse.

Oh, so you’ve already heard about that, huh? I hope you agree with me when I say, “Isn’t our God great?” My hometown of Cookeville, TN, was in the path of being 100% covered. Our family is at Polishing the Pulpit this week in Sevierville, TN (read the blog from last week), so we were in a section that I believe was 99.7% covered. Though we didn’t get the full coverage and effect that Cookeville got, it was still amazing. God is truly awesome.

Not only has our Facebook and Twitter feeds been inundated with excitement about the eclipse, there has also been a lot of media attention. The nerd in me wanted to read articles from industry “experts” to get a scientific view of it (though many were obviously written by those who lack knowledge of our Lord).

I read one last week that I failed to bookmark (so I apologize for not being able to share a link), but it said something that really caught me off guard. The article was quoting a college professor who travels the world watching total solar eclipses. He explained what the eclipse at its totality would be like. Specifically, he talked about the sudden drop in temperature that comes with the darkness. Stars and planets would be visible to the naked eye. Most of you probably heard that on every news story, but this is what really caught my attention. He said to pay attention to both animals and other humans when the sun becomes completely hidden. He said it is somewhat unpredictable what would happen. He wasn’t implying that we would become werwolves or anything, but he said it could completely throw our internal clocks out of whack. He said that animals may start to bed down as if it was late at night. He even said humans could show some of those same symptoms. To sum it up, he said that we learn very quickly how important the sun is to our survival, because without the light we don’t know what to do.

John tells us in John 8:12 that Jesus said, “I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.”

How many things become to us like obstacles that get in the way of us fully seeing the Light from the Son and allowing it to illuminate our lives? Our lives become dark and cold. We feel lost. We don’t know what to do. That obstacle does not always have to be something that in and of itself is sin. It can be something as simple as a hobby, a job, or a relationship. However, once these things become so large, they begin to hinder our spiritual growth. We begin to focus on something besides Christ and His desire for our obedience (John 14:15). In order to be pleasing to God, we must keep our focus on Him (Hebrews 12:2) and not allow other objects to come between us and Him.

Another important thing to remember is that even though the sun was momentarily obstructed from our view, it didn’t go anywhere. It was still there. It was in the same place it has always been. We just couldn’t see it, and we felt the effects of its absence. When there is a separation of us and Christ, we must understand that Christ didn’t go anywhere. He is still in the same place He has always been. We simply allowed something to get in the way where we couldn’t see Him anymore, and we feel the effects of His absence from our lives.

Maybe without knowing it, the professor that was interviewed for that article hit on a concept that should help to guide our lives spiritually: we learn very quickly how important the Son is to our survival, because without the Light we don’t know what to do.

“If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory.” – Colossians 3:1-4