Light in a dark world

I honestly don't know where to start...this world is an upside down, mixed up place. It is dark and broken and confused.

And I don't know why we're all so surprised.

"Now the earth was formless and empty,

darkness was over the surface of the deep"

Genesis 1:2a

A world without God is nothing but darkness. We are living in a world full of empty people, desperate to fill the void in their heart with something--anything--that will make them feel better, feel complete, feel like something, feel like they matter. They search in an empty world, so it's no wonder all they find in emptiness. You can't fill a void with emptiness. You can't ease the aching of your heart with the promises of an empty, broken world.

So people do selfish things, trying desperately to make themselves feel something other than the brokenness. They reach for the next thing and the next thing and the next promise, thinking that just maybe, somehow, that elusive something they are searching for is out there. Maybe if they can just push every obstacle out of the way...get rid of all the inconveniences...control everything...then just maybe they will find fulfillment. Happiness. Worthiness. Love.

And we wonder why they make decisions that hurt other people. Innocent people. We are shocked and outraged that someone could be so selfish, so uncaring, so heartless.

And that's just it--heartless.

Because you can't have a heart for people unless you draw close to the heart of the One who makes people. You can't love unless you know Love.

"He entered our world, a world He made;

yet the world did not recognize Him.

Even though He came to His own people,

they refused to listen and receive Him."

John 1:10-11

We are in a broken world, but there will never be enough laws or rules or regulations to heal it. There will never be an answer that this broken world can give to the people who are struggling to find something to make them feel better.

The world is a dark place.

Our world is getting what it deserves. Mankind as a whole has told God that we don't need Him. We've told Him in no uncertain terms to back off, to stop meddling in our business.We've stood up like petulant children and stared straight into the face of the One who spoke us into existence and told Him that He doesn't get to say what we can and can't do.

We've told Him that life doesn't matter, that His creations are so worthless that we can throw them away before they even draw a breath.

And why not? People can't find a way to fill the emptiness in the very core of their being--why would we expect them to find worth in something weak and helpless?

We don't belong to this world, though. We are children of the Light, the One who can fill the emptiness. The One who can speak into the void and fill it.

 "For you are all children of light.

You are sons and daughters of the day.

We are not created of night,

nor are we owned by darkness."

1 Thessalonians 5:5

His breath filled all things with a living, breathing light--

A light that thrives in the depths of darkness,

blazes through murky bottoms.

It cannot and will not be quenched."

John 1:4-5

In the darkness, He is still here. He is watching His children, His heart breaking.

And I'm afraid that He's letting us have what we've asked for, what we've demanded. I'm afraid He's saying, "Fine--I've been protecting you from yourselves, but I'll give you what you want. You don't want Me to interfere, to tell you how to live your life."

And, with tears for His lost children, He's watching us destroy what He's created.

But He's still here. He's still waiting for us to turn to Him, to fall before Him and admit, "Father, I've messed up. I can't do this on my own. Life is hard, and I'm not as good at handling it as I thought I was. I'm tired of the emptiness, of the searching. I give up. I give You all of it."

And in that moment, in the middle of all the brokenness and emptiness and heartbreak, He pulls us close. He lets His love overflow and cover us, filling that empty place.

"Listen! The Lord, the Eternal, the Holy One of Israel says,

'In returning and rest, you will be saved.

In quietness and trust, you will find strength."

Isaiah 30:15