God's Pure Light

"God is light; in him there is no darkness at all." 1Jn 1:5

So being followers of Christ we are in the light. We are not in darkness. In Our Journey they talked about how the most common verse used at funerals is the "Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me." Ps. 23:4
Although this is used, says the devotional, at funerals it can be related to many aspects of our life. The valley that you may be walking through right now may seem dark and endless. The battles you are fighting may feel dark. The pain in your heart seems to engulf you and drag you into further darkness. Yet even in this darkness is the light. The light of God.
I see the light as a very bright one. Pure. Warm. Not hurting to the eyes. Bright, but not to the point where you want to turn away from it. On the contrary, you want to go to it. As you look into the light you are surrounded and engulfed by the warmth of His touch. The feeling of safety. The light grows and you know that it is ok. The light is everlasting. A gentle touch.
I have had this feeling before. The feeling of warmth on my skin. It feels like this is how God lets me know that He is right there. In those moments that I need it the most. Like a gift sent down from Heaven it touches me. It pulls me into Him.
We have the light. We are the light. We have Jesus.
As I battle things in my life I feel like I am all alone in the darkness. That there is no way out. But then there is the light. My way out. God. The only real way out. Sometimes it makes me wonder if I choose not to look for the light. If I get wrapped up in my self-pity and my hurt to even stop and look right in front of me and see that He is the light guiding me.
The verse out of Psalm 23 seems to strike me a little more now. The fact that it was put into terms that I could relate with. That I can understand. That even though these times are dark it is ok because I have the best protector there ever is. We have the best protector.
As the light surrounds me and reminds me of His beauty I am awed. The strength. The power. The gentleness. The love. So many other emotions wrapped up in the gift that He chose to open my eyes to. The gift that warms me to my soul. That makes me praise Him now more then ever. Even in the dark times learning to praise Him can be hard. You wonder what the heck you did to deserve it. It is not what I did or didn't do to "deserve" the valley. It is the way closer to Him. To remember His light and know that I will never be fully engulfed in the darkness. I will use the light to battle the darkness and to come through the valley. So will you.