Tuesday, January 11, 2011

Convo with Pastor - Job 24:13-17

There are those who rebel against the light ...
When daylight is gone, the murderer rises up ...
The eye of the adulterer watches for dusk ...
In the dark, thieves break into houses ... 
For all of them, midnight is their morning; 
they make friends with the terrors of darkness.
Job 24:13-17
 
I love that line: "Midnight is their morning."
 
I also hate the truth of that lie.
 
Murderers, adulterers, and theives are constantly emboldened by the cover of darkness. Mostly, they hide their ways so they won't get caught. And "they make friends," along the way, "with the terrors of darkness."
 
But isn't there another element to this cover of darkness? Don't some of our most wreckless habits start at night because of shame? It's fine if our co-conspirators know -- fellow theives, fellow drunkards, fellow adulterers -- but who are the people we're hiding our activities from? Mom? Grandma? Our boss? Our spouse? God?
 
Shame is usually in terms of relationships. Therefore, when Job says, "There are those who rebel against the light," he's not talking about a fear of sunrays; he's talking about a rebellion against God and his ways.
 
Scripture tells us that "God is light; in him there is no darkness at all" (1 Jn 1:5). Therefore, true light and true darkness have nothing to do with the time of day. True light is a relationship with the One who is light.
 
Think about it: When we're ashamed, we stay away from the light ... including the person who is light. And we make friends, instead, with darkness. And, I guess, accidentally, we run the risk of making friends with that person too.
 
In Christ's Love,
a guy who's tired of working 
the 2nd and 3rd shift.
I want a day job.
I want to work in the light.
------------------------------
The light can be scary. It shows all of our flaws, mistakes, weaknesses. I want to hide. The best place to hide is in the dark. We can't be found there.  I hurt so much inside and the mere thought of having any of the pain revealed is too much to handle.

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3 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

Probably my most beloved pet ever was a 110 lb gentle giant of a dog. The most remarkable dog ever! He had one very interesting habit though. He was terrified of the vet. This enormous dog shook and shivered and came to the decision that if he hid his head in the corner or behind my legs, that he was hidden and the vet wouldn't see him. Little did he know that he positioned himself perfectly for the inevitable sneak attack with the shot needle! But closing his eyes and pretending he was in the dark was his safety net.

The dark is your safety net. But God and everyone else still sees you.

Jan 11, 2011, 10:21:00 AM  
Anonymous DM said...

David wanted to hide too, but this is what he discovered:

"If I say surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me," even the darkness will not be dark to you: for the night will shine like the day, for the darkness is as light to you. Psalm 139: 12

DM

Jan 11, 2011, 10:49:00 AM  
Blogger Chris K said...

The game the youth play called 'Sardines' came to mind. It is like hide and seek in the dark ... the goal is to hide well enough so no one finds you. That is slowly becoming my goal ... especially in the next two weeks. If I do a good enough job of hiding, then the pain and grief won't be able to find me.

Jan 11, 2011, 2:59:00 PM  

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