Read: Isaiah 9:1-7

Recently as I was walking around the track at the high school a moment of emotion swept over me.  I am not usually a very emotional person but as I was walking along that evening I was thinking about how empty the seats of the football stadium have been this fall due to the current pandemic.  During that time of reflection the song “Six Feet Apart” by country singer Luke Combs came on my headphones.

The lyrics to the song say, “I miss my mom, I miss my dad, I miss the road, I miss my band, given’ hugs and shaking hands.  Well, it’s a mystery I suppose, just how long this thing goes.  But there’ll be crowds and there’ll be shows, there will be light after dark, someday when we aren’t six feet apart.”  I knew that the Bible makes numerous mentions of light after dark or light replacing darkness, so upon the return home from my walk I started looking for those verses.

It turns out (according to Biblegateway.com) that light and darkness are mentioned together over 55 times throughout scripture.  Isaiah 9:2 says, “The people walking in darkness have seen a great light.”  Isaiah 42:16 says, “I will turn the darkness into light before them and make the rough places smooth.”  In the New Testament John (John 1:5) says, “The light shines in the darkness.”  And then of course the wonderful words of Jesus himself in John 8:12 where he says, “I am the Light of the world, those who follow me will not walk in the Darkness, but will have the Light of life.”  Look some of the others up for yourself.

I guess what I realized on my walk that night is that times of darkness are followed by times of light (sunset/dawn).  God will see us through this difficult time and we will once again see those high school football stands filled again with cheering fans.  We will once again be able to give hugs and shake hands, and someday when we are not encouraged to stand six feet apart, we will see the light after the dark.  May the Lord be with us and bring that day soon!

Make it Personal:  What are some references to light and dark that you can think of?  What dark time are you experiencing in your life right now?  We are all going through a pandemic together but other difficulties in life are still there as well.  Take your darkness to Jesus who is the light of the world.  There will be light after dark!