“The people walking in darkness
have seen a great light;
on those living in the land of deep darkness
a light has dawned…
The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.”
(Isaiah 9 and John 1)
Over and over throughout scripture, we see stories of light shining into darkness and order being spoken into chaos. As the Spirit of God hovered over the chaotic waters of a formless earth, God’s first recorded words began the process of order spoken into chaos: “Let there be light.” As the people of Israel existed in deep darkness and oppression from Rome, their Messiah – Jesus, the Light that gives life to every man – was born to shatter oppression and usher in a new kingdom: “Let there be Light.” As Jesus and his disciples traveled across the Sea of Galilee and the tempest raged through the night, Jesus, unmoved by fear or anxiety, spoke order into the chaos of that storm, just as he does to the storms we face in our own lives: “Let there be light.”
Light speaks of this amazing truth about Jesus – that his very presence spoken into a situation brings light, life, order, and shalom. And it’s a presence and a victory that death cannot overcome or overshadow.
Even writing this song was a bit of a chaotic process for me. One evening, I was sitting at home with this idea brewing in my head (with some lyrics and melody lines to go with it), and I just had to sit down and start working on it, even though the timing was completely inconvenient. My two daughters were downstairs watching some loud, obnoxious movie (and fighting with each other) while I was on our main floor at our piano, brow furrowed and head in my hand trying to think. My husband was on the couch staring at me, trying to talk to me about… something… I can’t remember. And he was talking on the phone. And I kept asking my girls to leave me alone so I could think and apologizing to Daniel for being so “in the zone”. It was utter chaos in my house while I was trying to concentrate on writing a song about Jesus speaking order into chaos. With much perseverance and prayer, though, God brought order into my chaos, gave me clear thoughts to articulate, and a patient family to deal with my imminent and necessary bout of creative output.
It’s my prayer that the Truth of the overcoming presence of Jesus resonates in your spirit as you listen to Light. His voice calms the tempest. His hand brings perfect peace. He’s our everlasting hope and freedom. Jesus, the Light that shines in the darkness.
No Longer Slaves