In the middle of the night (for me), I drove to the airport to pick up my daughter, Anna, who was returning home from a trip to Mexico. If you follow my writing, you know Jan, and I hit the rack early and get up early – real early, each morning. It is our best time to write, reflect and pray.

Well, this morning, I slept in late, several hours late, and got up at 7:00 am. It was a strange feeling. All my regular morning routines normally done in darkness were now being done with daylight inside the house. Turning on the coffee maker, walking through the house toward my writing chair, standing before our living room window and welcoming the new day with prayer, were normally accomplished in surrounding darkness. Doing these things seemed strange and otherworldly with so much light.

I was experiencing a living metaphor of John 1:5, where John writes, “The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it.” The Lord was showing me what it should be like for a follower of Jesus 24/7. We are never in a place of darkness because it is impossible for darkness to overwhelm light. Yet at times, the level of fear and frustration I hear coming from our mouths would indicate that some of us are living like people who are stumbling through the darkness instead of people who are walking in the brilliant light of God’s presence.

Fear will always darken the spiritual environment of our lives and the words that come out of our mouths. Faith can seem fake and plastic to people, believers and non-believers alike, who have chosen to only see darkness. A religious spirit can turn off the light of hope and make everything dark and reasonable to people who no longer live in the light of faith. Just because something sounds religious does not make it wise or sourced from God’s Spirit.

You and I are not supposed to live like people stumbling through dark places unsure of our spiritual footing. Wisdom invites us to employ the fruit of self-control and begin to retrain how we think and speak. Like someone walking through every room in their home at night and flipping on each light switch, it will change how we see this life. Those choices of faith will begin to illuminate each room of making your way sure and confident. It may seem strange at first like it was for me this morning when I awakened and saw everything illuminated, but after awhile, it will become your new normal. At that moment, you will begin to see this life with the eyes of God.