You Will Never Walk in Darkness
God’s Word is filled with rich promises for His children. How do these “precious and very great promises” inform and direct your grief? How does keeping your eyes fixed on these truths anchor your hope in the Lord? In this series, we write about how God, through the promises in His Word, comforts and strengthens us in our sorrow.
“Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, ‘I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.’” John 8:12
“Mommy, don’t shut the door, I don’t like the dark.” I hear my daughter say after I kiss her goodnight. I smile and reassure her that the door will stay open. As I walk down the hallway toward my bedroom I think about how I don’t really like the dark either.
Dark is one way I would describe what it feels like to lose a baby. It’s sad, scary, and often isolating. It feels unnatural, and as my counselor would say, just plain “yucky.” I’ve been walking this journey for nine years now, and there are still times when I feel that darkness creeping up on me.
Just recently, as I was studying the gospels, it was brought to my attention that if there is even the smallest speck of light, complete darkness does not and cannot exist. Picture this: you’re lying in your bedroom at night with the door closed and all of the lights turned off. It might look and feel dark, but in reality what you’re experiencing is not complete darkness. Maybe the soft gleam of the moon is coming through the blinds, or the little light on the smoke detector is blinking. Light will always overcome the darkness.
From the time we are small children, we have a natural tendency to flee from darkness and run toward the light. In John’s gospel, he is constantly reminding us of who Jesus is. We see over and over that Jesus is the light. He overcomes the darkness. As it says in John 1:5. “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” What an amazing comfort. What an incredible gift!
The truth that is revealed in John 8:12 continues to bring me so much hope nine years after losing our sweet Isaac. The second part of the verse says, “Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the Light of life.” What does it mean to follow Jesus? How can we practically live this out so we can have “the Light of life” in the midst of our grief?
The first and most important part of following Jesus is to accept Him as your Savior. The word “gospel” means “good news” and it truly is the best news any of us can fathom. In Genesis 3, we see that Adam chose to sin, and ever since then, as Romans 3:23 says, “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” Because of our sin, we deserve death (Rom. 6:23), but there is good news! Because of God’s love and mercy, He sent His son to pay our debt by dying on the cross (Rom. 5:8, Eph 2:4-5). All you have to do is believe and you will have the gift of eternal life (Rom 10:9-13). Oh the hope that can bring to our weary hearts!
Jesus didn’t just come to save us, He also came to dwell among His people. Even though He is now at the right hand of the Father, He still desires a relationship with us. Through my grief, I have seen how important it is for me to draw near to Him. When I spend time in prayer and reading the Bible, I am filling my heart and my mind with truth. I am learning more and more about the Light, Himself.
The closer you get to the Light, the farther away you are from the darkness. As the verse says, if you are following Jesus, you “will have the Light of life” (emphasis mine). Not only are you close to the Light, but you also have that Light in you! The Light that can and will push away the darkness. That Light, much like a nightlight does for a small child in the middle of the night, will bring peace and comfort when you feel like you’re surrounded by the darkness of grief.
- Kacie Hunt
Hope Mom to Isaac
Kacie lives in Austin, Texas, and is the mommy of three precious daughters on earth and a sweet baby boy in heaven. She loves reading, coffee dates with her husband, Jonathan, and traveling with her family. She is passionate about helping women grow in biblical literacy and theology and is the cohost of the Adorned Podcast. She also blogs at www.kaciehunt.com.
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