As I was driving to the store the other day, the sunset was creating this cool effect because there was a break in the clouds. The sun reflected differently on the clouds above the break than the ones closer to the sun. I tried to take a picture, but it wasn’t capturing the effect of what was happening.
If you read my writing, I talk about these sunrises and sunsets as love letters from God; he knows I enjoy and appreciate the variety of colors and nuances with each and every one. This morning in prayer I was thinking a lot about light. Jesus, the Light of the world, and the sun, the physical light of the world, and how both can have such resounding effects on us physically, mentally, and spiritually.
I was thinking about how the sun greets us each morning, gradually, beckoning us out of bed and into a new day. The sun doesn’t pop on at its full noon power each morning. It is slow in its climbing, allowing our bodies and eyes to adjust to its light each day. Jesus is much the same. He doesn’t overpower us suddenly, but gradually invites us into deeper relationship with Him, basking in His light.
I was thinking about those days where the sun doesn’t come out fully, but is instead clouded with overcast skies, gray, making it hard to rise from our beds and have energy through our day. Jesus is much the same. When other elements of our life seem to cloud Him out, He is there. We know He is there, but it seems harder to feel His warmth. It takes effort on our part to continue to trust He is there and will feel close again without more effort on our part.
I was thinking about how on those days were the clouds are scattered throughout the sky whether at sunrise or sunset, how the sun’s light creates brilliant colors, every time new shades collide to create a masterpiece and magical rays, a delight for our eyes. Jesus is much the same. The way His light touches each of us creates a new masterpiece, each of us unique and brilliant in our own way, in a way only He can bring out and make us shine.
I was thinking about how we revolve around the sun, our entire planet. We have no choice but to revolve around the sun. We are revolving around the sun whether we want to or not, it happens naturally. Jesus is not the same. He allows us to choose Him or to reject Him. He allows us to choose love, to choose life, to choose light or to reject Him.
As we welcome the Light of the World once again this Christmas, I invite you to reflect on how His light will be cast into your life this year. How will He be gradually inviting you to a deeper relationship with Him? How will His light be casted differently in my life this year? How will you seek His light even on cloudy days? How will you choose to keep Him at the center of your life so that things don’t spin out of control?
“Then God said, Let there be light, and there was light. God saw that the light was good. God then separated the light from the darkness.” Genesis 1:3-4
“The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom should I fear? The Lord is my life’s refuge; of whom should I be afraid?” Psalm 27:1
“All things came to be through him, and without him nothing came to be. What came to be through him was life, and this life was the light of the human race; the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” John 1:3-5
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