God’s work begins with light: “Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light.” (Gen 1:3). Until God reveals something, His work does not begin. Do you desperately desire to see God work in any area of your life? Then seek light from God. “Arise, shine; For your light has come! And the glory of the Lord is risen upon you.” (Isa 60:1). This scripture reveals that “your light [that] has come” is the only valid basis upon which you can arise and shine. If Your light has not come, all your efforts to arise and shine will be futile. In as much as God wants you to shine with His glory, it is impossible if your light has not come. Note that “… it is not of him who wills, nor of him who runs, but of God who shows mercy.” (Rom 9:16). If God has not shown mercy by giving light, no amount of human willingness or effort will help.
The light of revelation has only one source: God. “For with You is the fountain of life; In Your light we see light.” (Ps 36:9). “In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.” (Jn 1:4). Yet many people today make the same mistake which Israel had made earlier in history: ““For My people have committed two evils: They have forsaken Me, the fountain of living waters, And hewn themselves cisterns—broken cisterns that can hold no water.” (Jer 2:13). There is a world of difference between intellectual knowledge and spiritual knowledge. The former is a product of information while the latter is the result of revelation (light). That was why Jesus said, “It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life.” (Jn 6:63). Jesus did not speak just to inform, but primarily to transform.
The first ever recorded utterance of God was, ““Let there be light”; and there was light.” (Gen 1:3). This signifies that light is the bedrock of all God’s transformational and restorative work on earth. There is no hope of divine initiative and involvement in any transformational or restorative effort on earth without light as its forerunner. Hence, Jesus came “To give light to those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death, To guide our feet into the way of peace.”” (Lk 1:79). Therefore, “The people who sat in darkness have seen a great light, And upon those who sat in the region and shadow of death Light has dawned.”” (Matt 4:16). Light is the beginning of God’s work. It is light that reveals God’s nature and character on the one hand, and the nature, deceitfulness and tactics of evil on the other hand.
Consequently, we should pray with the Psalmist: “Oh, send out Your light and Your truth! Let them lead me; Let them bring me to Your holy hill And to Your tabernacle.” (Ps 43:3). Shalom.
