Night time was the worst. Laying awake in ICU, I vividly remember desiring death. I could not feel my toes yet my body was consumed by intense pain. I could not still my mind as it chased the fears of permanent paralysis. A dark fog brought on by chronic pain, the rigors of 6 hrs a day rehab, and lost dreams descended over my view to the point I lost sight of light all together. As a bleak outlook filled my heart, my soul, waxed thin like butter sparingly spread over brittle bread. In the belly of that valley I was so pressed down that it seemed there was no ability or reason to get up. On October 9th, 1996 I broke more than my neck, my spirit all but shattered and hopes hues faded.
Hope is a powerful force and when the light of its rays fade from sight we lose a substance core to life itself. It is in those times more than ever we desperately need to awaken to the truth, that even when grossly obscured, light will never be overcome by darkness. We need to believe that even if we can barely find a ray, it is there. And if kindled, the flicker will become a flame that will drive the darkness away.
More and more these days we are told the tale that darkness is superior, inevitably pervasive, and that indeed in the end it will prevail. But the Creator Of Light, the true light of the World Himself promises that light will remain and will ultimately overcome every shadow of darkness. When faced with darkness we are not called to manufacture light but instead to uncover it. Upon finding the light we are invited to run to it, to walk in it and expose others to its radiance.
If you told me then, what I know now, that one day I would look back and say, “I am thankful for that fateful day and the valleys that chased it,” I would have called you crazy. But I, for one, can testify to the power of a Light Break Through.
Psalm 18:28 “You light a lamp for me. The Lord, my God, lights up my darkness.”
Psalm 36:9 “For you [Lord] are the fountain of life, the light by which we see.”
John 1:4-5 “The Word [Jesus] gave life to everything that was created, and his life brought light to everyone. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it."
- Micah McElveen