Imagine you’re slogging through a dark season or trudging through a deep valley, looking for God, listening for his voice, feeling disconnected from him.
Maybe you don’t have to imagine. Maybe that’s your current experience.
You’re trying to be faithful, aren’t you? Trying to walk the path he’s laid out for you. But the trail seems to have gone cold lately. You can’t see the markers anymore. The darkness closes in. You’re unsure of what to do, or where to go next.
I recently locked onto a gem of a verse I’d never noticed before: Psalm 97:11: “Light is sown for the righteous, and joy for the upright in heart.” (ESV) *Note: Most translations correctly translate the phrase “is sown,” instead of “shines.” It’s a much more powerful concept.
“Light is sown for the righteous, and joy for the upright in heart.”
Back to your struggle: You’re trying to be faithful, aren’t you? Trying to walk the path he’s laid out for you. But the trail seems to have gone cold lately. You can’t see the markers anymore. The darkness closes in. You’re unsure of what to do, or where to go next.
This promise changes everything! Picture yourself on that dark trail. Stuck. Unsure. And then—what? Wonder of wonders, is that a pinprick of something shiny on the ground?
Curious, you walk over to the object, and what on earth—can it be? Yes, it is: A tiny seedling has broken from the hard earth… and it’s shining. More than that, it’s made of light.
And now that you’re focusing on it, it’s growing. Twisting, spreading, defying the darkness, rising, budding, blossoming right before your eyes, like your very own Jack and the Beanstalk.
Here it is, a thriving plant, full of light, with resplendent fruit hanging before you. Calling to you. You remember what Paul wrote to the Ephesians: “The fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth.” (Ephesians 5:9). And you realize: Oh! This is a gift from God!
Think of it. Seriously. Your loving Father went ahead of you on the trail, knowing exactly where you’d be and when. He planted a seed of light for you, right on the path, timing it’s germination so that it would spring forth right when you needed it.
Awash with his generosity, you pluck one of the fruits. As you relish God’s gift, you receive his truth and insight. You remember your calling, the gospel, the kingdom. You’re set right with him again. You’re called back into his goodness once more. Your next step becomes visible. Glorious communion with the Father. What a relief!
But there’s one more fruit hanging there. It calls to you too! The moment your teeth sink into it’s sweetness, you’re filled with the joy of the Lord, strengthened for your journey by his faithful provision and care, because “the joy of the Lord is your strength” (Nehemiah 8:10)
Psalm 97:11: “Light is sown for the righteous, and joy for the upright in heart.”
Yes, we reap what we sow. But in God’s kingdom, through the gospel, we also reap what the Father sows: Light. Joy. So good!
Let’s take this to heart. No matter where we are on our trail, no matter how difficult or wonderful this leg of the journey may be, let’s pause to look for light from the Father. Jesus said, “Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life” (John 8:12). That light will bring us joy. It will set right what is wrong with us. And it will help us experience more of God’s goodness as God’s truth does it’s pruning work.
It could arrive through scripture, the words of a friend, or the lyrics of a song. It could appear in a scene in a movie, or through a dream in the night. It could sing to us with a sunrise, sneak up on us through a hug, or warm us sip by sip as we nurse a steaming cup of coffee.
Just know that when true light comes, it’s from him. “Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows” (James 1:17). Give him glory, and revel in his care.
I’d love to hear your stories too, that illustrate how at just the right time, God gave you his light and joy.