Clarity

John 8:¹² “I am the Light of the world. So if you follow me, you won’t be stumbling through the darkness, for living light will flood your path.” (TLB, emphasis added).

What happens when Jesus gives me a fresh start? When Jesus gives me a fresh start, I get three things. The first thing I get is, New Clarity About Life. I start to see life differently, to see other people differently, and to see God differently. In fact, I begin to see church differently. People ask why I am so excited about church. I am excited because I get to get new clarity about God and about life and that is so powerful. Jesus puts it this way “…if you follow me, you won’t be stumbling through the darkness…” How do you know you are stumbling? You know you are stumbling when you do not know what lies ahead, you do not even know where you are, and you are filled with bumps and bruises from bumping into things. If one or all of these three things are in place, it means you are stumbling through darkness.

In modern warfare, there is a device used by the elite forces of the world called the night vision. Those who play the game, Call of Duty, are familiar with the night vision goggles. When everything is dark and you wear the goggles, you can see in the dark. A US Army General had this to say about night vision, “If you can see clearly in the dark when your enemy is confused, you are going to win every time!” In your career, if you can see clearly in the dark when everybody else is confused, you are going to win at work. In your business, if you can see clearly all the time, you will win. In your marriage, if you can see clearly all the time, you will win. It does not mean there would not be darkness, but it means you have night vision.

Most times, we want a situation where there is no darkness at all. But the Bible says in Isa. 60:²

“For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people: but the Lord shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee.” (KJV). In other words, you will have night-vision goggles in the Name of Jesus. So, if you find out that you are living in a confused state, something is wrong. You are not meant to be confused. 1 Cor. 14:^33a “God is not a God of confusion.” (NCV). The truth is, the further you are from God, the more confused you are going to be. The converse is also the case. The closer you are to God, the less confused you will be.

Not being confused is all about how you see with your inner state, not necessarily your physical eyes. We see life through our inner heart, our minds, not necessarily our eyes. And that was what Jesus was saying when He said, “Blessed are the pure in heart, they will see God!” The Message Translation puts it this way, in Matt. 5:⁸ “When you get your inside world—your mind and heart—put right, then you can see God in the outside world.” The challenge for a lot of us is our inside world is not put right. There is a lot of darkness, turmoil, and confusion. So we are not seeing the outside world the way God wants us to see. Today, in the Name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, God will put your inside world right.

Prayer: Lord Jesus, please flood my inside world with Your light, in Jesus Name. Amen!