Rolling over in bed this morning, straining to see the clock around the accumulated clutter on my nightstand, I knew the time before my eyes found the timepiece. Four o’clock. This is the hour at which I’m most usually summonsed from slumber by that still, small voice of the Holy Spirit. In the quietness of the early morning, before the days first stirrings, before the first birdsong, He tenderly tugs me from the tendrils of my dreams.
As I ease myself from the edge of the bed, I hope I haven’t awakened my husband. Judging by the sounds of his breathing, it’s hard to know if my movement has disturbed his sleep, or not. He is not stingy with my time at all. He is more than willing to share my attentions with the One who beckons me in the wee hours of morning, because he knows that that relationship comes first. He knows that our relationship with each other is a direct reflection of our relationship with the Lover of our souls. Still, because I love him so, I want him to receive his rest for the day to come.
Out of bed and into the morning routine, eventually, I find myself sitting in my chair as daylight begins to draw the darkness away. This is my favorite part of the day.
Before the horizon becomes visible, the birds begin to herald it’s coming with songs of anticipation. Light manifests itself with a progressive power that overcomes the obscurity of the night. As the generalized darkness shrinks back from the world, the truth of the sun’s radiant rays reduces its blackness to isolated shadows. Little by little, hidden things are made discernable. The deceitful appearances of shadows are debunked. Truth takes hold of the veil and gently lifts it from the earth. The way is being made ready for the return of the sun.
The transformation that occurs with the breaking of dawn is nothing short of miraculous for the earth and all creation that is dependent upon the sun’s glow for growth. Isn’t this reflective of the Divine revelation of God’s glorious love for us? When we surrender ourselves to Him and His purpose-filled promises, He pours His brilliance over us. That brilliance begins the wonderful work of our total transformation. Every part of our being…spirit, mind and body…reacts to receive His enlightenment. As the Truth of the work done thru the cross sheds clarification over our lives, the darkness is reduced to shadows, and the shadows gradually give way to God’s glory.
Fear’s Effect
I lived in the lies of the darkness for a long time. Its voice, the voice of the enemy, whispered deception in my ears, and I was seduced by his misrepresentation of the truth. I was so gripped by fear, that I sought those things that made me fearful. I didn’t seek them to overcome them…I sought to align myself with them. If I was on the side of darkness, wouldn’t the darkness leave me alone? Wouldn’t I find relief from the oppression of fear?
That was my thinking process as an adolescent. That was the thinking process that led me to lean into the darkness, rather than to reach for the Light. I bought into everything the enemy spoke, believing that I was and always would be inadequate. I made promises to the darkness with the vain hope that I would be protected, somehow, from further torment.
Those promises, and that attempted alignment with evil, continued to torment me into adulthood. Even after becoming aware of the enemy’s intentions and learning about his destructive plan for my life, I was bound by his falsehoods. Every decision that I made was made from a defeated position. Even as the Light beckoned me, how could I ever reverse the mistakes I had made? How could I ever be worthy of love, when I had turned my back on its Author?
Like the light of the breaking dawn, as it gently glides over the earth’s surface and obliterates the shadows, the love of God had begun its work to obliterate the shadows of my own erroneous perceptions.
It had been so easy for me to see the supernatural qualities of the darkness, because I had been choosing to believe in the enemy’s lies. Why had I never seen the supernatural qualities of the light?
So many questions…and the answers slowly began to be revealed.
The Lure of the Light
The Holy Spirt is the embodiment of God’s supernatural connection to us. He is the One who reveals Jesus to us, and He is the One thru whom we communicate with the Father. In the absence of Jesus’ physical presence, the Holy Spirit is His gift for us to be completely consumed by the love of God, from the inside out!
I can look back on my life, thus far, and see God’s love rising over it, like the light of the sun on a Spring morning. I see that moment of salvation when I was a child of 9 years, as the beginning of daybreak. I see that, even thru my mistakes and irrational perceptions, His love was diminishing the darkness into mere shadows, and then shrinking those shadows with the radiance of His revelation. I see and I embrace that part of Him that was hidden from me for so long…
It is so easy to see the darkness, and it is so easy to see its power. Why? Because we put ourselves in its midst without even giving it thought. We turn on the television and receive into our minds whatever topic a particular “show” presents. Darkness is glamorized in tales of terror, presented by the seduction of vampires and the like…Darkness is presented as inevitability to be accepted and tolerated, thru heart-wrenching dramas…Darkness attempts to make light of vulgarity and hate, as we find ourselves hiding behind the laughter evoked by the comedian of the day. We tend to identify ourselves with, and even to find comfort in, the shadows.
I’m not on a soapbox about the evils of television…or am I?
Here is the question: Will we continue to lean into the shadows? The sun is rising. The SON is coming back. The victory of light over the darkness is already at hand. Will we continue to hold tight to that darkness, anyway? Will we allow ourselves to align with the last shreds of shadow remaining, thus being lost with them as they are dissolved by the Light of Truth? Or will we lean into the light, choosing to reach for that Truth and all that it will reveal in and thru us?
Let us long for the supernatural goodness of God to fill us, to consume us from the inside out! The only way to combat the darkness and its supernatural hold on our minds and mindsets, is to accept and embrace the supernatural entity of the Holy Spirit.
My Encouragement To You
“Those who live according to the sinful nature have their minds set on what that nature desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace…” – Romans 8:5-6
Last week, I encouraged you to seek knowledge of the Holy Spirit for yourself, and this is pretty much a repeat of that. If you haven’t recognized the power at hand thru and by the Holy Spirit, please seek to receive Him…He has so much to offer! He and His ability to guide and counsel you along this journey of life is a very real and key ingredient to walking victoriously and joyfully, into the peace of God’s everlasting glory.
I encourage you to read Romans, especially Romans chapter 8, in its entirety. Please, please, PLEASE feel free to leave comments! What you have to say might be what someone else needs to hear in order to receive the Lord’s enlightenment!
Be blessed with peace in every step you take!
The Peace of the Path 