darkness to light

A couple years back, my church did a series on Genesis, which I was pretty bummed about at the time, to be honest. I think I was a freshmen in college, and at the time I thought was way too cool for the Old Testament. But I went to church during that time anyway, and I'm glad I did, because my preacher Dave said something on the first night of that series that I will never forget:

"Some of God's greatest works begin in the darkest of places."

Now when he said this, he was speaking on two levels. Obviously, since we were in Genesis at the time, he was talking about the world, and how God spoke it into existence from nothing but darkness. But he was also talking about how Jesus has this way of speaking life and meaning into the worst possible situations in our lives. And that's why that quote has stuck with me over the years, because I have seen that happen time and time again in my life and in the lives of those I love. It's like God has this thing about taking the things we've given up on, the people we think are out of reach, or the situations we think are hopeless, and turning them into the most beautiful and precious things in our lives. If you have ever seen or experienced this, then you know how what I'm talking about, you know how beautiful it is to see God turn the darkness to light, because it's like seeing someone or something raised from the dead. Right when you think it's over and you've lost, God lights a spark that eventually fuels a flame, and next thing you know, the darkest and most hopeless aspects of our lives have become lights to everyone around us, showing everyone the amazing redemptive power of God.

I am thankful that God works in this way. I am not too proud to admit that I am incredibly stubborn and independent, and I can honestly say that there have been times in my life that it has taken God turning terribly awful things into amazingly beautiful things to make me believe and understand His nature and His power. But I do believe, and I always will. Because the way I see it, pretty much anyone can take a good thing and make it better. But only God can turn the darkness to light.