You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. 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. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.
I am one of those people. When I was little, I always had a nightlight on when I went to bed. If I ever went anywhere that I had to sleep in the dark, I was paralyzed in fear and couldn’t sleep. I have never like to sleep in complete darkness and I still don’t. I may not have the main light on, but I like there to be a little light shining somewhere so I can see.
Darkness
From the beginning of time there has been darkness and light. Most of the time we see darkness and light in opposition of each other as in good vs. evil with darkness being representative of evil and light representing goodness. Darkness does many things. It covers. It hides. It can be frightening. Darkness can be comforting too, but usually because we want to hide, whether it is hiding from danger or from something else. We hardly ever see darkness represented in a positive light unless it is in view of something light-hearted like the moon, stars, or such.
Why exactly do we view darkness this way? As humans we are generally more comfortable with light. We can see clearly what is around us and in front of us. We don’t have to guess, and it leaves little to our imagination. In the darkness however, we cannot see anything that is around us and we allow ourselves to imagine all kinds of things - many untrue. Our greatest fears seem to come alive in the dark, producing feelings of insecurity because we have no control.
Nyctophobia is characterized by a severe fear of the dark triggered by the brain's disfigured perception of what could happen when in a dark environment. It is amazing what our brains can do - and make us believe that is not true. Fear of the darkness is not fear of the dark as much as fear of what we can’t see. Darkness distorts the truth. The truth is one thing but how we perceive it because of the darkness is another.
Satan will use darkness disguised as light to trick us if he can. He disguises darkness as light and before we know it, it has strangled our heart. What seems to be the answer to hope becomes a person’s deepest betrayal because its end was death. There is a force of evil that seeks to destroy and veils itself in the shining lights of on the street only to lead victims into darkness and rob them of life and hope. Satan wants us to think that the darkness he offers is really light and hope. He leads us to believe that his darkness will fill the longing in our hearts, but in the end, it just eats away at it. Satan is crafty and he is the great deceiver, but his flashy tricks to lure us are exposed when the light of Christ hits our lives.
Darkness in our lives reveals the parts of our lives where Christ is absent. Satan and all who love his ways love the darkness because it hides the truth of what he is. Darkness only hides sin until the light comes. John 1: says The light shines in the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it. Jesus is the light, and He will prevail. We must always be vigilant and on guard, making sure that what seems like light is really light. True light only comes from the one true God.
Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” John 8:12
