My daughter stepped onto the front porch to answer a phone call. It was after dark on a summer evening, and we hadn’t turned on the outside light. When she walked into the house about twenty minutes later, she squinted and exclaimed, “It’s bright in here!” I replied with a chuckle, “Yes, that’s what happens when you stay in the dark for too long.”

I realized the simple truth of what I said. When we stay in the dark, our eyes adjust to darkness. When we quickly move to a well-lit area, we can’t see well at first even though we see more than we did while in the dark. As our eyes adjust, we see more and more details around us.

When we keep portions of our lives in the dark, we might adjust our perspective and rationalize we don’t need more light. We might think we can see “well enough”…but can we? When we stay in the dark too long – or when we compartmentalize certain areas of our lives in dark corners – we can’t see the truth. Not until light shines through the darkness can we see the details.

While light can be blinding, it doesn’t seem to take long to adjust to darkness. I remember many evenings I would sit and read. As the pages turned, the sun set, and the room around me grew darker and darker. I didn’t notice. I could be sitting in a nearly dark room, focused on my book, until someone would walk in and ask me how I could see in the dark. Dark? I’d look around and realize how dark it was. Because my light source had dimmed in small increments, I had adjusted.

Sad to say, but there have been areas in my life that have dimmed in small increments, too. Perhaps I didn’t think they were important enough to shine light on them…or perhaps I was too anxious of what would be exposed if God shined his light on some aspects of my life.

But God is the light that reveals the truth of my life. His light is what reveals the truth of himself. Without light we can’t see how well we’re reflecting him, and others can’t see how we’re reflecting him. Light can be blinding if we stay in the dark for too long. Or in our complacency, we can become accustomed to dimming light. He gives us light to reveal himself and his ways to us. Are you living in it?

In the past you were full of darkness, but now you are full of light in the Lord. So live like children who belong to the light. Light brings every kind of goodness, right living, and truth. Try to learn what pleases the Lord. Have nothing to do with the things done in darkness, which are not worth anything. But show that they are wrong. It is shameful even to talk about what those people do in secret. But the light makes all things easy to see, and everything that is made easy to see can become light. Ephesians 5:8-14