Read the transcript from today's video devotional.
Have you had those times where it just feels like you just cannot get ahead and make progress? It could be just things around the house that you're trying to get done, projects you have, or it could even be parenting where it feels like you're just not making progress with your kids or grandkids, or your job. There's a variety of different things that could cause you to just feel like, man, I just don't feel like I'm making progress. I'm not getting anywhere with this. It feels like I'm just standing still.
It even could be your health. You're not seeing progress in your health. It's a very real thing that we deal with. Some of you may be thinking, it's not just that I've experienced that. I'm actually going through that right now. If I were to tell you that you could have something, or you probably already have something that nothing can touch, nothing can take away from, nothing can extinguish it at all—what would you think?
Something Nothing Can Take Away
I don't know about you, but when you have those times where we're not making progress or it feels like we're one step forward, two steps back, it's—oh, goodness. I want to focus my attention on something I know I can get done, I can make progress, I can feel like it's being successful and we're making an impact. We're doing something with this time and effort.
I'd love to use that lens for our Verse of the Day today. It's found in John chapter 1, verse 5. "The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it."
The Tickle Monster Game
I think about when we're talking about the light and the darkness and how it can extinguish it. We played this game when I was a kid, when my dad would hide down in the basement and we called it Tickle Monster, and we'd stand up at the stairs, pitch black. You couldn't even see your hand in front of your face, and we'd walk down the stairs. Please don't ask me why we did this. It doesn't make sense now, looking back on it. When we’d walk down the stairs and try to find a hiding place, if he found us, you would know, because everyone else would hear us giggling and laughing as he tickled us, and the rest of us would run to another spot when we'd hear where he was at or run up the stairs.
What my dad didn't know is we actually found that his watch would have this very dim glow when it's in the dark, so he could see what time it was. It gave us the opportunity to see even in the pitch black. There's one little glowing light coming from his watch, and we could see exactly where he was.
The Light Shines Even Brighter
It's funny because as we look at the context of this verse—the light shines in the darkness and the darkness can never extinguish it—you know, for us as Christians, when we talk about the darkness of the world, we actually look at it as the reverse of what was happening with my dad's watch. All it took was this very dim light in the whole entire basement for us to be able to see, and we could see it pretty clearly.
So often we stress and focus on how much darker the world is and how much more difficult the world is getting. We put this burden on ourselves of, the world's got to change. Everything's bad, everything's going downhill. As you started, as you focus and you struggle through the day or the days and you don't see progress or improvement because there's so much going against what you're trying to accomplish, whether it's parenting or relationships or marriage or job or anything else, there is one thing that you possess that you have that can shine brightly, even in the darkest moments. In fact, it shines even brighter the darker it gets.
Just know that the light of Jesus, the light of the Gospel that's in you, can never be extinguished. You have something that will always bring progress, always give hope, and will never be extinguished. Nothing will ever come up against it that will defeat it. It is the victory in our life.
Reevaluate Your Priorities
I would just love for you to take a step back today. Whatever you have going on, just take a step back and remind yourself and reevaluate the priority that the light of Christ and the Gospel has in your life. Focus on that—that nothing will extinguish it. That is something you can make progress with today.
