Can you feel the darkness slowly engulfing our world? Turn on the news; engage with social media; listen to the influencers of our day. Yes, the darkness comes. Pastor Adrian Rogers used to say, “It’s getting gloriously dark.”

How are you and I as believers supposed to live in such a dark world? The Bible recognizes the reality of the darkness, and it warns us that it will get much darker. But it never encourages us to live in despair or with a defeatist attitude. Instead, we are commanded to walk in the light. So, how can we do that when we are surrounded by such thick darkness? In a world enshrouded with darkness, where people argue that moral perversions are nothing more than an “alternate lifestyle” and demand that we fully accept them as normal; where companies make decisions based solely on the almighty dollar regardless of the consequences to others; where human beings are exploited and abused for financial gain or sexual pleasure; how are we to know how to live? How do we determine what is right or what is wrong? The Psalmist gives us a part of the answer when he wrote, “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path” (Psalm 119:105, ESV).

The Psalmist isn’t trying to make some kind of mystical statement. He didn’t foresee God’s Word floating in front of us with a flashlight to shine on our path. He wasn’t anticipating the Bible becoming something like the literal pillar of fire that guided the Children of Israel during their wilderness wanderings. Paul said that one of the responsibilities of believers is to renew their minds so that they can discern God’s will (Romans 12:2). This doesn’t happen magically, nor does it happen through some mystical experience. Instead, it happens as we take God’s Word, spend time in it so that we learn it thoroughly,and see what it says about our lives and how we are to live them.

That means then, that the responsibility comes back to me. I would much rather sit back and pontificate about the evils and the darkness of the world. But God calls me to pursue with bold determination a path of walking in the light. I can curse the darkness all day and all I’ve done is increase its pervasiveness. What I too often forget is that darkness is merely the absence of light. So, my strategy to oppose the darkness must start with me walking in the light. Can I honestly say that I am? Is my walk consistent with that revealed in God’s Word? How can I complain about the darkness, when I’m neglecting the light that God has provided for me?

This then must become my priority. Today, by God’s grace, I will walk in the light of His Word. I understand that I will not walk in it perfectly. There’s way too much stubbornness and selfishness in me for that. But that must be my priority. And as I attempt to walk in His light, maybe some of that light will illuminate the paths of my fellow travelers.

Senior Pastor, Gary O’Neal