“The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it.” John 1:5 NLT

I hate the way Daylight Savings Time throws off my schedule, but I’ll never complain about gaining an extra hour of daylight. Sunshine makes such a difference in how I feel, physically and emotionally. If I could move to a location that enjoyed thirteen hours of sunlight a day, year round, I would.

I’ve read about “The Land of the Midnight Sun,” where the sun is continuously visible for twenty-four hours a day, for varying months depending on the proximity to the equator. It sounds wonderful! But the unfortunate flip side is the months spent in total darkness. During those months, suicide rates climb as depression prevails. The constant gloom is difficult to endure.

When I think about the way we are dependent on sunlight for Vitamin D and how vitally important it is to our physical and emotional health, I am reminded how we are dependent on Jesus for our spiritual well-being. Without Jesus, we would live the darkness of sin and human depravity, separated from God, without hope.

But the Light of the World offers us forgiveness and the promise of a better life. Because of the death and resurrection of Christ, we don’t have to live as captives to sin. We have new freedom. We don’t have to live in the darkness of despair and sin because we have access to a Light that no darkness can extinguish.

When the gloom of life’s struggles threatens to overwhelm us, we need to turn our faces to the Light.