“Everything exposed by the light becomes visible, for everything that becomes visible is light.” There is hope in these words. The promise of Christ is right here. When light is shined into the dark alleyways of your life and everything in that dark alley is exposed to the light; your life cannot be plunged further into the darkness. Instead, Christ’s light shines on you and you are forgiven. What was once dark, becomes light. There is forgiveness and a new opportunity to live in the light when your darkness is exposed. The promise of Christ is right here. If only we could believe it.
Unfortunately, human nature tries to convince us that the opposite is true. Human nature says, “Keep it hidden, keep it in the dark. If anyone knew, you would be ruined. You are supposed to be better than that. Pretend like you are better than that. Pretend like what you do in the dark never happens and you will look like a child of the light.” Human nature does not want you to be a child of the light. Human nature only wants you to appear as a child of the light.
He lived like it never happened. The young man took a long business trip to Japan. One day, he was taken out for lunch followed by a massage. The massage was relaxing on his tired muscles until the end when he was told that he could relax even more. She was a professional. He would really enjoy it. It was a long business trip and he was missing home. He said “yes” and that is when he cheated on his wife.
It was just once. He felt vulnerable. It never happened again. He kept it in the dark because the voice of human nature said, “exposing the truth will only ruin your perfect marriage. She will never be able to trust you again.” Maybe human nature was correct. Perhaps, the marriage stayed intact because he never told. “Intact” is the correct word. The marriage was intact, but it wasn’t fine. He pretended that things were fine, but they weren’t. He pretended like he could love his wife the same as before, but he couldn’t. A dark rift started to form between the couple and they both started to fall in, the wife never understanding why she and her marriage were slipping gently into the darkness of a rift and the coffin that lies below.
A woman lived in a similar fashion to the man; she too lived in the darkness. She was in charge of the finances in the home. She started living in the dark when she started buying things that the family income could not afford. She bought expensive shoes, piles of clothes, and expensive perfumes because they temporarily made her stressed life feel better. Those things also hid well in the darkness of the closet. Of course, the relief from the stresses of life didn’t last long and she had to buy again and again and again. So as not to be seen by her husband, she stepped further into the darkness and started putting things of credit cards. She would buy him gifts so that she didn’t feel so guilty. All the while, the household was freefalling into the dark pit of debt. She knew this was dark. She knew she was secretly ruining the family. However, human nature whispered, “This makes you feel better. If you feel better, your relationships with your family and husband will be better. You cannot expose it. The trust will be gone. These relationships will be destroyed.” Perhaps, human nature was right. Perhaps, her relationships would be destroyed. But, how long before the banks would expose her?
Human nature tells us that we must stay in the darkness. Human nature tells us that things will only be OK only if we stay in the dark. Human nature does not want us to believe the words of truth, that everything that is exposed to the light becomes light.
Sleeper, wake up! Rise from the dead! Christ will shine on you. You cannot find healing and hope in the darkness of a coffin. Human nature is wrong. Dark coffins are not the answer. Wake up! Let the light of Christ expose your soul. Let forgiveness enter into your dark places. Rise from the dead and walk in the bright life of God’s forgiveness. It is a wonderful life. It is a life free from hiding from those you love. It is a life free from the bondage on sin. It is a life of running in the warm sunshine of forgiveness and peace. Wake up!
I cannot tell you about what happened to the man who went to Japan, but I can tell you about the indebt woman. Encouraged by a friend, she allowed her secret spending to be exposed to her husband. As soon as she said the words, he stared into her eyes furiously and said, “I have to admit that this hurts me in a big way, but I think we can work together to fix this. I love you.” Together, they did fix it. Christ’s promise of forgiveness was true. Now she not only appears to be a child of the light, she truly lives free and walks as a child of the light. Sleeper, wake up! Rise from the dead! Christ will shine on you.
All Scripture quotes are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyrighted, 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A., and is used by permission. All rights reserved.
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