Have you experienced utter darkness, to the point that you can wave your hand an inch in front of your face and detect
zero motion? Me neither, so let’s just end this blog right here! Of course, I’m kidding or I wouldn’t have asked the question.
I did, in fact, experience this very thing at Ape Cave, a lava tube located just to the south of Mount St. Helens in our great state of Washington. According to the Washington Trails Association, this cave was formed nearly 2,000 years ago from lava streaming down the southern flank of Mount St. Helens. As the outer edges cooled into a hardened crust, the inner molten lava was able to drain away before it hardened, leaving behind a tube. After discovering the cave in approximately 1950, a logger told his spelunker friend. That friend explored the cave with his sons and their friends, who called themselves the Mount St. Helens Apes. Thus, the name of the cave.
So, there’s your little northwest history lesson for the day, in case you’re not familiar with the cave. What really stuck out to me, though, was just how incredibly dark it was inside of that lava tube. And what struck me even more was how bright and helpful a tiny amount of light could be. When I didn’t have light, I wanted to follow the one who did have it. So it goes for Christians living in this world. We are often surrounded by darkness and the only light is from God, displayed through us, a light that draws others to us and, ultimately, to the Source of that light.
2 Corinthians 4:6 tells us that “God, who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness,’ made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God’s glory displayed in the face of Christ.” Once we have that light, we have a responsibility to let it shine.
In Matthew 5:14-16, these words of Jesus are recorded: 14 “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden.15 Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.”
Notice that the light is related to our good deeds, meaning that the way in which we live our lives in this dark world can serve as the bright shining light that points people to God. And notice, also, that the purpose of shining our light is to lead others to make much of Jesus. So, shine your light in the darkness and watch people follow the One you follow.
Troy Burns