Windmill tower serving as a yard light at Safe Haven Farm, Haven, KS

Let the light do its job

At the moment, I have about 20+ head of cattle roaming around my property. It’s not that I have a ton of land. What I do have is water. Sort of. Watered pastureland is a luxury out here, so my neighbor asked if he could run some cattle on his property surrounding me and open up my fences to let the cows drink out of my stock tanks. This was a number of years ago, and we’ve never had any trouble with it.

But in November (the dreaded November 2012), for some reason we stopped being able to fill the stock tanks up at once. We’d have to let the water run for half an hour until the pump’s breaker gets hot and switches off, and then I have to restart the pressure tank and start the whole process again. Usually two or three times. We’re in the process of fixing it and coming up with an alternative solution right now, but until then, I have to hike out to the stock tank, turn the water on, restart the pressure tank two or three times, and then hike back out to shut the faucet off. Not a big deal…in the daylight. At night, it’s a different story.

My yard is full of opossums, skunks, and raccoons, and I didn’t realize it until I had to hike out to that barn faucet in the darkness and ran across a skunk. Yay. Believe me, I ran back to the house as quick as I could. I had no interest in getting sprayed.

Apologies for the long-winded farm story, but it’s relevant. See, my property is a scary place in the dark, but it’s not always dark. I have a yard light propped up on my windmill tower, and it make a big difference when you’re outside working after the sun goes down. Light helps you steer clear of danger. Light helps you see threats coming at you so you can be prepared (or so you can run away). If you’re working in darkness, you need to have a light.



Today’s verse is Psalm 27:1.

The Lord is my light and my salvation—
    so why should I be afraid?
The Lord is my fortress, protecting me from danger,
    so why should I tremble?

This is one of those verses that struck me differently this morning. I’ve read it all my life, and I thought I’d already put it on here. But I didn’t see it. In any case, this isn’t the only verse in Scripture that compares God to a light.

The world is a dark place. There’s darkness in every corner, and everyone who follow Christ must operate in it. Maybe we try to run away from it. Maybe we try to isolate ourselves from the darkness. Maybe we close our doors to it and pretend it’s not there. But we can’t get away from it because we live in a world saturated with it.

So how can we hope to survive in the darkness? How can we hope to make it from point A to point B without being sprayed by a skunk? Well, you’ve got to have a light. And when it comes to operating in the world, that light has to be God and the Bible and Christ.

Psalm 119:105 says, “Your word is a lamp to guide my feet and a light for my path.” That basically means that the Bible, the Word of God, is our roadmap. It’s what we’re supposed to stick to if we want to make it through the obstacles and challenges that are waiting for us in the dark. We can’t see them on our own.

So don’t assume that you can escape darkness. As long as we’re living on Earth, it will be here. You can’t outrun it. You can’t hide from it. But you can fight it–with light. And the beautiful thing about light vs. darkness is that we don’t have to do anything but let the light do its job. Just hold it up.

If you’re standing in a dark hallway, turn a flashlight on. If you’re sitting in a dark basement, light a candle. If you’re trying to water 20+ head of cattle in the darkness, get a yard light and turn it on. One little light makes a huge difference in a whole lot of darkness. We just have to let it.

And it’s the same with God. Live the way you’re supposed to. Follow Christ. Trust God. Be real. And just keep going. They’ll do the rest. So don’t be depressed by the darkness you see around you. It’s the world; it’s supposed to be that way. But you’re not. You live by the Light, and let the Light do its job.