The Light Shines in the Darkness
by Katie Harding on September 26, 2022
“For God who said, ‘Light shall shine out of darkness,’ is the One who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ” (2 Corinthians 4:6).
I heard the above Bible verse this morning as I was listening to my latest audio book — The Other Half of Church: Christian Community, Brain Science, and Overcoming Spiritual Stagnation — while walking on the treadmill. It reminded me of an experience I had while watching the Global Leadership Summit this summer.
Before one of the sessions, the screen went totally black. Then a small bright light appeared in the middle of the screen and started moving toward us, growing larger as it got closer. In that moment, I realized, that’s exactly what I saw in August of 2002, as I was kneeling beside my bed getting ready to pray. My eyes were closed, so all I could see was darkness, like the early morning sky outside my window. All of a sudden, a bright light appeared just as I described above, and I “heard” the Lord say, “See that light, that is My Spirit within you.”
“See that Light, that is My Spirit within you.”
I think I said something really profound (insert sarcasm here) like, “Wow, okay.” I finished getting ready for a workshop I was leading that morning, recorded it in my journal, and forgot about it for many years. Until one night after climbing in bed, I closed my eyes and it was so bright that I thought I left a light on. I opened my eyes quickly, and it was pitch dark in the room. So, I closed my eyes again, and there was still the evidence of light over to the left. I remember thinking, “That must be the Spirit’s light,” and drifted off to sleep.
A few weeks later, I shared the experience with a friend, and she told me about a conversation she had with another young woman, who was a Christian now but had grown up in a family that took part in satanic practices. This young woman had said that when she was a child her family would walk down the street and knock into Christians. My friend asked how they knew who was a Christian and who wasn’t. The woman said, “We could tell from the light coming from them.” My friend answered with, “Well, greater is He who is in us than he who is in the world.” And this young woman said, “Yes, we knew that, but they didn’t.”
“Well, greater is He who is in us than he who is in the world.”
The more I read and reread the apostle’s letters in the New Testament, the more I am convinced that they knew it, too. For instance, when Paul taught Timothy about the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit, he wasn’t speaking metaphorically, but literally. We are indwelled by Christ’s actual Spirit, and as we come to realize this, it broadens our understanding of not only their words, but Christ’s as well. “The light shines in the darkness (of our own souls), and the darkness did not overcome it” (John 1:5). Thank You, Jesus.