When Life Gives You Lemons . . . Turn on the Light

The great philosopher Albus Dumbledore once said, “Happiness can be found in the darkest of times if one only remembers to turn on the light.”  Physical light has many useful qualities.  It allows us to see clearly the path before us.  Objects hidden in darkness no longer impede our progress.  Instead, we have the ability to view them and move around them.  Light gives warmth.  Is it not a splendid sensation to feel the warmth of the sun on one’s face in the midst of a cold winter’s wind?  And, light gives life.  Children learn in the early stages of grammar school about the process of photosynthesis – whereby, plants utilize light to produce the “fuel” necessary to live.  There is, however, an even greater light source.  

The spiritual light guiding true believers is found only in God’s word which is Jesus Christ.  This spiritual light is eternal and life giving.  “I am the light of the world.  He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life” (John 8:12).  Our lemons, our struggles are ultimately the consequences of a sinful, chaotic world.  The light of Jesus Christ brings order to the confusion.  In His first recorded act as creator, God literally turned on the light.  To see our way through the darkness that so often encroaches upon our lives we too must have light.  As the psalmist wrote, “Thy word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path” (119:105).  Christians find help and hope in Jesus who is the Light in a world full of darkness.  This light shines for us through God’s word and we reap the benefits with diligent and consistent study of the scriptures.

To understand just how important God’s word is, look no further than Psalm 119.  This psalm is the longest chapter in the entirety of the scriptures.  It’s sole purpose is in extolling the virtues and necessity of God’s word in the lives of believers.  Psalm 119 is composed of 176 verses compiled into 22 paragraphs.  And, it should be noted that each paragraph begins with one of the 22 letters of the Hebrew alphabet.  They appear in order, as we might say, from A to Z.


We cannot know Jesus; we cannot have His light in our lives if we do not turn on the light of His word in our hearts.  Moreover, without the light of Christ, we’re adrift in a lost and dying world.  Peter writes in II Peter 1:19, “And so we have the prophetic word confirmed, which you do well to heed as a light that shines in a dark place . . .”  If we hide the word of the Lord in our hearts, the sufferings and darkness of this world will not overwhelm the light of Christ in our lives.