“the powers of light”

I was recently listening to an inspiring podcast, and the commentator said that when it is “the right time”, for God to act, the “powers of darkness” will not be able to do anything against us. I have always found the analogy of light as God and darkness as evil, to make perfect sense…ie. That which is real, and that which is the absence of reality. Light which we can see and though it is real, we cannot touch it, and darkness, which we cannot see at all.

So this talk, which was meant to be comforting, brought up a question, because if God is all good, isn’t that “right time” always “right now”, in the present? Light always gives direction.
Is there ever a time when God refuses to act for the benefit of good? I don’t think so.
Then I thought about the “power” of darkness. Even a little child knows that when a light is brought into a dark room, that “darkness” has no “power” at all to combat, diffuse or eliminate the light. It simply has no power. It is not the “enemy” of light, it is actually the complete absence of light.
The only way I can figure that evil or darkness has “power” is if a person voluntarily stops accepting “light”.
So if God is ALWAYS acting for our benefit, for good, and light is representative of this, then we can recognize that our job is to CLAIM that light, even when we cannot see it, instead of assuming God is “holding out” on us.

Faith, would then be, the ability to “stay on the right path” and walk with confidence, even in those times where we cannot see the light…those times it seems we are just walking in the dark.

Light is not just about the illumination of the world around us, it can be represented by a myriad of things…it can mean inspiration, or illumination of thought, or it can mean mental clarity or resoluteness. Light can mean clear mental direction or conviction of purpose. When we know the appearance of darkness is temporary and insubstantial, even just the understanding of “light” can allow us to move forward, in seeming dark times.
Light allows us to “see” and to “understand” and to “focus”.
All these things are qualities that belong to something good, and equally describe light or God as light of the world.
I am grateful to know that we can “remind” ourselves, even when in the midst of darkness, of the PERMANENCE of light, and of the immediacy of clarity and direction, when we hold fast to what we know is true, about light and choose to stay on the path which has been illuminated for us. Just one momentary glimpse of light, in a dark night, can give us EXACTLY what we need to find our way out of a pit.
Some people call this “glimpse” of light a “coincidence” with God…something that gives us a flash of inspiration, or direction, and at the same time, heals us of confusion, despair or sickness.
Just one second of light can help us get our bearings, so we can continue to live productive lives and realize the immediacy of protection and the conviction of our right direction.