The Light Is There for a Reason: A Devotional Study on Light

STORY: Quit Flashing Your Lights at Me!

The car coming toward me flashed its lights. The bright beam temporarily blinded me. I hate driving after dark. My vision isn’t as sharp, and my astigmatism causes every light to have weird halos and lines radiating. The driver of the car coming my way didn’t know that. He also didn’t know I’m terrible with my headlights. I don’t drive after dark enough to remember where my control is for high beam and low beam. I assume it’s on low beam since I try to keep them on even in daytime. Sometimes, I have no lights on at all, and don’t realize it until I get to a particularly dark section of the road. Or when I get a reminder from the driver coming at me. I want to smack my head. Oh Kathy, your lights aren’t even on!

It reminds me of one of the Bible passages I will share in the next section. God gives me a low beam headlight to see the way directly in front of me. The next step I need to take. He keeps me on the path with this close-up application of light, just up ahead. But he also gives me a high beam headlight that illuminates way up ahead. This gives me an overview of what I need to see to get me further down the road. The details in the distance aren’t as clear as the ones for my next step, but just enough to keep me safely pointed in the right direction.

Others have compared it to a flashlight for the next step and a spotlight for what’s up ahead.

Oh! how I need God’s Word to light up the path of my life. Don’t you?

STUDY: God is Light, His Word a Lamp

How precious is your unfailing love, O God! All humanity finds shelter in the shadow of your wings. You feed them from the abundance of your own house, letting them drink from your river of delights. For you are the fountain of life, the light by which we see. (Psalm 36:7-9 NLT)

• Describe how God’s unfailing love makes a difference in your life.
• What type of shelter do you find by placing your trust in God?
• Since this psalm illustrates God as a bird (wings), think of the rest of the passage through that example. A bird gives sustenance to her babies, enough for nourishment and refreshment. How do you describe God taking care of you?
• This passage also compares God to a fountain of life. How has your life changed because of God?
• The final illustration in this passage is comparing God to a light that illuminates what we see. How has God enhanced your vision and your view in life?

Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him, and he will act. He will bring forth your righteousness as the light, and your justice as the noonday. (Psalm 37:5-6 ESV)

• The first sentence has a type of if/then arrangement. If we do what? Then God will do what?
• What does it mean to commit your way to the Lord?
• What is the hardest thing to trust God for?
• How have you seen God act when you have committed your way to him and placed your trust in him?
• In this passage, the light is assigned to our righteousness. Factoring in the rest of the Bible, what do you know about your righteousness? How does God bring it forth as the light? That’s hard to make sense of, isn’t it?

They did not conquer the land with their swords; it was not their own strong arm that gave them victory. It was your right hand and strong arm and the blinding light from your face that helped them, for you loved them. (Psalm 44:3 NLT)

• When victory happens, it happens because of God.
• How does the psalmist describe God’s physical attributes here? This is considered an anthropomorphism—describing God with human traits so we understand him better. It doesn’t mean he has a physical body.
• This study is on the word light. Look again at Psalm 44:3. What do you think about God’s face radiating a blinding light?
• We can’t miss the final statement. God helped them because he loved them, and the same is true for us—God helps us because he loves us.

Let all that I am praise the Lord. O Lord my God, how great you are! You are robed with honor and majesty. You are dressed in a robe of light. You stretch out the starry curtain of the heavens; you lay out the rafters of your home in the rain clouds. You make the clouds your chariot; you ride upon the wings of the wind. The winds are your messengers; flames of fire are your servants. (Psalm 104:1-4 NLT)

• What beautiful and powerful imagery in this passage. What stands out to you?
• To continue our look at the word light, here it says God is dressed in a robe of light.

Your word is a lamp to guide my feet and a light for my path. (Psalm 119:105 NLT)

• This is the verse I referred to in the story. It’s such a simple passage but has huge implications for us.
• How does God’s Word shine the light on your steps? How can you utilize this even more?
• The path up ahead is also lit up by God’s Word. What do you know about the big picture of your life because of the Bible?
• Often the path to where we’re going seems dark and unknown. But God makes sure to equip us with what we need to know. Sometimes, what we don’t know is by design. We don’t need to know everything to follow him or trust him and sometimes when we know too much it causes us to feel overwhelmed or try to take matters into our own hands.

STEPS: Walking in the Light

1. Commit your way to the Lord. Yield your actions to God and follow his direction.
2. Trust in God. Rely on his light and his Word when your world goes dark.
3. Seek the light of his Word. When in doubt, see where God is shining his low beam and high beam, and take your path in that direction.

Copyright © 2021 Kathy Carlton Willis, used with permission.