Waking Up in the Dark

“Even in darkness light dawns for the upright, for the gracious and compassionate and righteous man.” Psalm 112:4

I was standing at the coffee station at work a few weeks ago, and a friend of mine came for a refill.  We began the usual back and forth, conversing about the previous weekend and possible plans for the next one.  If we were sports fans, I’m sure there would have been a detailed evaluation of the weekend’s games, etc.  Eventually the conversation moved to the upcoming time change.  Since we were in late October, we were quickly approaching that glorious time of year when we get an “extra” hour of sleep.  Although for me, that usually is an extra hour of awake instead.  Daylight savings time has been around for a long time. Each year in the fall we “fall back” an hour and in the spring we “spring forward” an hour.  The purpose of this is to capitalize on the most daylight possible during the seasons.  As we were talking about the impending change and the benefits of it, he made a statement that inspired me.  He said “Nobody wants to wake up in the dark”.  It was a simple reference to the fact that during the winter months we usually wake before the sun rises.  But his statement stuck in my brain and I spent the next few days mulling it over.

As I began to go deeper into thought about that simple statement, and began dissecting it, several things came to mind.  First being a bit obvious.  Nobody wants to wake up in the dark.  So true.  Who could possibly want to wake up in the dark?  The dark is depressing.  It’s hard to see.  You tend to trip over and run into things in the dark.  Toes get stubbed.  It feels colder.  It’s harder to be positive and joyful about the day.  Overall, waking up in the dark is unpleasant.  So on the surface, it’s already a negative thing.  It makes me want to hit the snooze button just writing this. 

But is waking up in the dark always a bad thing?  Proverbs 31:15 says “And she arises while it is still night and gives food to her household and tasks to her servant girls.” Sometimes getting up before the sun can be a good thing.  You can get more accomplished, prepare for the day or even find some much needed peaceful solitude to spend in God’s word.  So when thinking literally about physically waking up before dawn, it’s easy to see there are both pros and cons.

But it’s quite profound to think about waking up in the dark?  Almost feels like an oxymoron when you are in the context of the biblical light.  Waking up out of the dark seems more accurate.  How many of us though are honestly waking up in the dark?  We get out of bed, we don’t pray, we don’t worship Him, we don’t thank him for what he has given us.  We may open our eyes, brush our teeth and head to work, but we are still in the dark.  In a sense we are stuck in the dark.  But how do we get out of it?  How do we wake up out of the dark instead of staying in it?  How do we, as we read in Romans, “Put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light”  13:12

The answer is obvious.  We come out of the darkness and into the light through the Son.  Enter the Gospel!  “For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the son he loves” Colossians 1:13  Before the Son, there was darkness, but now there is Light. 

Christmas is just a few short days away and it’s definitely a time to reflect on the gift of light we have been given.  We, as Christians, celebrate Christmas for a much more valuable reason than the rest of the world.  We know Christmas isn’t about presents or trees or food.  It's a celebration of God’s coming into the world as a man.  To save us from our sins.  To bring us out of darkness into light.  We have been given the gift of his presence.  And all we have to do is accept it and follow Him.

I don’t know about you, but I’m so thankful He showed me how to wake up out of the dark!

Walking Tall Through Christ,

Kevin