Go to the valley.

Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death... Do we know what that is? We are so bent on avoiding that valley. We'd prefer the winding mountain trails with the view, thanks. We may occasionally taste a bit of that valley in our personal lives: a season a darkness, being surrounded by darkness. But we don't know God's comfort in those times. Nor do we willingly choose to enter into valleys when we know what may befall us.

When we do stumble into it, we do all we can to dull the pain. We avoid periods of personal darkness, of internal struggle. But what about a larger-scale darkness; an external struggle that is being experienced in the world around us?

Jesus was called the "man of sorrows". I think we tend to attribute that the the "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" bit. Or just the general circumstances surrounding His death. But I think it was just as true in His life. He felt sorrow for the broken state of the ones He loved, for the deteriorating creation He designed, and for this way of life in the flesh.

But Jesus willingly walked into the externally dark places, even with a sense of internal struggle. He didn't deaden His senses to the sorrow; He allowed them to direct Him to those most in need, bringing light into the darkness.

In this Kingdom, power is given to those who are willing to step into the darkness in the name of Christ. What good does a candle do in an already-lit room? Rather than putting all your candles in one room, spread them out to light up the whole house. To be a candle in a brightly-lit room is to lack the very power of the Spirit.

If we are blessed with light, go and share it! Go to the dark places, walk in those valleys. Don't take the scenic route. Don't try to deaden your senses to the sorrows. He who closes his eyes to the darkness still only sees more darkness.

Know suffering, know pain, know the heart of God that is broken for the Broken.
Share that heart. Share that light. Don't sit in darkness
and become as one with darkness.
Know the Light.
Be light.