His hand reached for the oil lamp in the darkness. He was enveloped in the deepest darkness he had ever experienced. He strained to see even a tiny glimpse of light – just a faint whisper – nothing. He groped, but still the blindness which had overcome him, left him hanging only to his other senses, and even they were hidden in the sullen blackness.

He his way around, but here in this pitch black abyss he felt so alone – so lost. Maybe if he could just reach the door and open it, a tiny sliver of light might steal its way into his humble home.

Finally he felt the latch and opened the heavy wooden door. On the other side – darkness, obliquity – only the stench of the last days lingered in the dank air.

When would this end? When would his eyes be free to view his surroundings? He didn’t deserve this punishment. It was the king who wouldn’t relent. Why couldn’t he swallow his pride just this one time?

“So Moses stretched out his hand toward heaven, and there was pitch darkness in all the land of Egypt three days. They did not see one another, nor did anyone rise from his place for three days, but all the people of Israel had light where they lived.”  Exodus 10:22-23

To live for three days in complete darkness must have been daunting to say the least. We panic when the lights go out for a few minutes and our minds shut down after an hour or more, but we rarely experience complete or total darkness.

Can you imagine the fear? Can you acknowledge your faith faltering – your courage waning or your hope dissolving into the murkiness? We’re lost without light.

When Jesus entered the world the first time, it was a dark place.  Corruption permeated government.  Crimes of sexual immorality ran rampant.  Violence was a way of life and fear of starvation was an every day occurrence for the poor.  Are we headed in the same direction today?

John 8:12. “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.”

When Jesus comes again, will we be ready for Him or will we have succumbed to darkness.  Now, more than ever, we need His glorious light to wash away the darkness.