Dear Friends:

It is so easy to forget that we live on a battleground. As I have watched the battle for Lybia unfold over the past weeks, I’ve been reminded what a high price one must pay for victory when the enemy is an evil dictator.

Satan is indeed an evil dictator. He unleashes destruction, deception, and despair at every turn. One of his greatest schemes is his scheme to deceive – his scheme to perpetuate darkness. He tempts us to believe that we can construct our world in a safe and pleasant manner, and that we can confidently trust our own wisdom. One of the great authors of the Christian faith, CS Lewis, said it well, “To admire Satan, then, is to give one’s vote not only for a world of misery, but also for a world of lies and propaganda, of wishful thinking, of incessant autobiography. Yet the choice is possible. Hardly a day passes without some slight movement towards it in each one of us.” (Lewis, A Preface to Paradise Lost, Oxford UP, 1942, 102)

Without a constant exposure to God’s light, we experience daily, slight movements toward self-absorption and self-deception. 

The fact is, we simply cannot know where we are going without light. It is impossible. Consider the following verses from Isaiah as you take comfort today in serving the God of light, splendor, glory, and truth.

Isaiah 42:16 “I will lead the blind by ways they have not known, along unfamiliar paths I will guide them; I will turn the darkness into light before them and make the rough places smooth. These are the things I will do; I will not forsake them.” (NIV)

Isaiah 30:21 “Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, “This is the way; walk in it.” (NIV)

Blessings,

Ron