Runway Walk - Pt 6

Men Love Darkness… Except on the Way to the Outhouse

I grew up in the country – waaaaaay out in the country.  We did not have indoor plumbing or an indoor bathroom.  Instead, we were uptown with a two-seater outhouse.  Oh, how I hated that place.  It smelled, always seemed dirty, and was a favorite place for snakes, spiders, and other varmints to hide.  It was, however, a wonderful tool to learn bladder control.  I can remember in the dead of winter, with the north wind howling, how it seemed that the outhouse had been relocated an additional five miles back of the house.  In the summertime, mosquitoes buzzed, flies swarmed, and the outhouse needed to be moved an additional five miles back of the house.  I can remember, even as a four-year-old thinking, “Nope, I can wait – another year or two to go out there.”  I do believe, as I write this, that I may have just discovered the root of my claustrophobia.

As tight-quartered as it was though, what I remember most is the darkness and the dread of getting there at night.  We never were sure of what was out there in the dark, and we never went without a flashlight.  We would shine the flashlight directly on the path in front of each footstep.  We would, occasionally, shine it over to the side of the path, but, more than anything, we wanted to walk where there was light.  In that part of Texas, we knew that there were rattlesnakes, copperheads, and water moccasins, any of which might have chosen to warm their scaly bodies on the smooth path lying ahead of us.  There were foxes, coyotes, “things” in the grass, off of the beaten path, and just outside of the beam of light.  I can still shiver a bit, just thinking about it.

Without a doubt, God was illustrating even then, to me as a child, the truth of Ephesians 5:8, as He cautioned believers to walk their runway of life in the light, rather than in darkness.  It is no coincidence that God’s Word tells us that, apart from the light, there is a serpent or snake in the grass seeking to kill, steal, and destroy.  Satan Himself is described in Genesis 3 and Revelation 12:9 as a serpent, whose bite in this world attempts to wound, injure, infect, and torment.   He hides in the darkness and encourages men to attempt to hide their evil deeds in the darkness.

My dad was raised in the French Quarter of New Orleans, where his family lived until Hurricane Katrina swept through New Orleans.  I recall one night, as a young child, walking to a corner grocery in the Quarter.  From the grocery store, you could look down from the corner and see a couple of blocks of the infamous Bourbon Street beer joints, clubs, and bars.  I can still remember asking my dad why the block was so dark inside of all of the business when I knew that there were people inside.  My dad’s sad response?  Honey, men and women love darkness rather than light because their deeds are evil (John 3:19). 

However, God has called us to walk in the light.  Not only do we want to walk where light is.  We also want to walk in such a way that our lives can be subjected to the scrutiny of the light.  Jesus said, in John 8:12, that He is the light of the world.  When we follow Him, we will not only walk in light, but also in life.  He has furnished us the flashlight for the path in His Word:  Your Word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path (Psalm 119:105).  If we turn His Word upon where we walk, how we walk, and why we walk, His Word will cast a beam of light on my motive, my heart, and my goals. 

I can clean my house thoroughly; however, when I turn on the lamps, I am always amazed to see a smudge on the wall, a cobweb on the ceiling, or a spot on the carpet that I missed.  The same is true of my life.  Only God’s Word helps to reveal what I may have missed in my excuses, my logic, or my rationalization.  I love that because I don’t want any serpent finding a place to hide in my life in the darkness.  I confess that the light feels harsh and brutal sometimes in what it reveals.  However, it can be harmful to ignore what the light reveals.  As someone who is older than I used to be, I don’t like to look in the mirror.  I will never forget the first time I looked into the mirror and saw my mom’s neck looking back at me.  It was such a shock.  However, I have figured out how to be pretty satisfied with getting dressed in the morning.  I don’t put on my glasses and I don’t turn on the light.  I can live with that.  On the other hand, I sometimes need the light in order to see what has to be addressed.  Oooh, hair is getting a little gray.  Missed that cheek with blush.  Whoops, spinach in the teeth…  Sometimes, only the scrutiny of the light helps us to correct those things avoided in the darkness.

In addition to walking in the light, subject to the scrutiny of the light, we are also called to walk in such a way as to extend the blessings of the Light within us to others walking in darkness (Matthew 5:16).

In the days following 9-11, there was an interview done with a young servicewoman who had been working in the Pentagon when the homicide bombers flew the plane into it.  She was hospitalized when the new reporter asked a rather shallow question:  When the plane hit, what went through your mind?

The young woman looked at him for a moment, as if taken aback by such an inane question, and, finally, responded:  I was surrounded by people screaming, fire everywhere, a horrible smell, and a darkness that was smothering me.  I thought I was going to die.

Breathlessly, the reporter asked, How did you get out?

The young woman, wonderingly, shook her head, as she responded, I don’t know.  All I know is that in the midst of all of that chaos, I suddenly saw a tiny pinpoint of light.  I just went toward the light.

Many of us may never feel that we can be a lighthouse in the storms of life, calling ships to safety.  We may never believe that we can be a high-powered, bright beam of light which splits the darkness as we walk the path of life.  However, for every single born-again believer in Jesus Christ, because the light of Christ dwells in us, we can let our light shine in such a way that those who are trapped in darkness, death, and destruction can see a tiny pinpoint of light in us that leads to the Light of the World.

Is your light shining?