“But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light“
-1 Peter 2:9

It seems to be a simple concept- the contrast between light and darkness. They’re opposites. Mutually exclusive entities. If you find yourself immersed in one, you will not be able to partake in the other. Is one easier to dwell in than the other? Is one more desirable?
It seems that our natural inclination is to love the darkness. We long to dwell where we cannot be seen or held accountable to our actions. This leaves us with a false sense of security and control. Which is why we revel in it. And we seem to believe that we can comfortably rest in it as long as we so desire.
But there’s a very big problem with the darkness… The problem being that God is not in it.
1 John tells us that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. He cannot coexist with it. It is His nature to shine- to dispel the wickedness and evil that we would complacently wallow our way to hell in if we were left to do so. And we would be content to do so. But by His mercy and grace, we are given the hope of His light (Ephesians 2:4-5 & 4:17-19). He not only grants us this hope, but He also places in our hearts a desire for the light. A desire we would never have on our own. It is in this blessed light that we see life in a whole new way. A way we would never know existed were it not shown to us. It takes adjusting. Inevitably, it exposes what we try so hard to hide. It leaves us completely bare and vulnerable. We cannot pretend we’re something we’re not. We cannot cover anything we don’t want to be seen because it is the nature of light to reveal. It’s terrifying. But as someone told me recently: “there’s something about the light that is just so good.” It leaves you craving more, desiring to see more and more because you realize how blind you really were. Blind to beauty. Blind to love. Blind to grace. In the light, you find life. And you realize how deadly the darkness is. You grow to love the light, even if it exposes you. It’s still terrifying, but it is so worth it because of what you are now able to see. More importantly, Who you are able to see. God is light and the light originates from Him. To study light is to study God. Light is good because it comes from Him (James 2:17). It testifies to His character: that He reveals truth and reflects purity in all things. He exposes our faults and our shortcomings, but only so that He may bring healing to our pain (Ps. 147:3, Hosea 6:1).
This week was a test of patience in more than a few ways. One of them being the realization that children overreact about stressors to their well being 97.4% of the time. As week 1 progressed, I could feel what little patience I had for hypochondria wearing thin. Things got real Friday when a child came in for the 34th time with her 34th minor complaint. The complaint being that she had a reaction to a plant she touched while playing in the woods during her specialty time. The camp nurse and I followed her and a counselor back to the site where the suspicious plant was to examine what kind of plant it might be. As we approached it, she came running past us to “show us which one it was.” My immediate reaction was to scold her and tell her to get behind us. And my enduring thought was “why in the world would you sprint back into what hurt you?”
……
How often do I run back to the darkness I’ve been delivered from? How often do I refasten the chains that my Savior has already broken? And how often do I cower from the light that makes life beautiful?
Christian, run to the light. Because as scary and uncertain as it may seem, the One from whom the light comes stands there waiting with arms open wide, waiting to hold and heal those who come to Him.
Rest assured, you were made to live in the light.

“For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light.”
-Ephesians 5:8