Today a gray haze blankets the earth. Things normally clear are suddenly distorted, obscure silhouettes of commonplace items. Oncoming cars emerge, headlights first, from their cloudy veil. I slow down. It would be so easy to careen into an unseen car. I creep along with an unsettling uncertainty of what to expect ahead.
I can’t help but think of friends who are still lost souls. They’re peering into the future as if through a pea-soup fog. They see nothing but an impermeable grey cloud ahead, I hear it in their voices. They live each day with an unsettling uncertainty, consumed with worry and worn out with life’s cares or eating, drinking and making merry because they see nothing beyond the grave. Even as a believer, it can be difficult to grapple with my own immortality. How much more difficult to face inevitable death without confidence in Christ. Most of us, if we could, would slow life and time down by the sheer force of our wills. But time marches on.
I try to explain the gospel to my friends, as best I’m able. (I wish I could carry Alistair Begg around in my back pocket. He explains it all so clearly.) I try to serve them well — to be Jesus’ hands and feet in the middle of their trials. People usually see a difference in me. I know because they comment on it. I wish they could understand it’s not me, but Christ in me, who makes me the person I am. Jesus is the light that shines through me. He wants to be the set of headlights piercing through their fog, too.
When Isaiah prophesied about God’s Son coming to earth, he said, “the people who walk in darkness will see a great light.” (Isaiah 9:2a) Jesus proclaimed Himself to be the Light of the World. (John 8:12) But not every person who saw Jesus saw the light. Most just saw Jesus the teacher, the healer, the man. Only a handful saw Jesus the Lord, the Shepherd, the Messiah. Right now, I’m afraid many of my friends can see Jesus, but not the light.
So I keep praying for them. I pray God will open their eyes to see Jesus as the Light of their world. I pray they will humble themselves and pray for God’s mercy and grace. I pray they will finally find perfect peace and rest in Christ’s sacrifice alone. “The steadfast of mind You will keep in perfect peace, because he trusts in You.” (Isaiah26:3)
