Let There Be Light!

I’ve always been fascinated by the creation story that begins our Bible. Think about the first sentence for a moment: “God created the heaven and the earth.” The majesty, the grandeur, the power, and the miracles inherent in that simple statement are mind boggling. But most intriguing is the fact that God begins with darkness and a formless void which He makes into this amazing earth. In other words, He began with a very negative set of circumstances and changed them into something very positive.
Right now I am looking at the bright pink roses in my back yard, the grassy green expanse of yard, the bright blue sky with puffs of white clouds adding a touch of whimsy, trees already heavy with budding fruit, and I marvel that God created this out of a formless, dark, void. Imagine what would have happened if He had said, “There’s nothing good here. I can’t make something out of this mess. I need at least a little something to build on.” But He didn’t. He took what He had and worked with it until he “saw that it was good” (Genesis 1:12).
And how did He do it? He began with a simple command, “Let there be light.”
I think there is a lesson in that for me. Much of what I encounter in this lone and dreary world is chaotic, dark, formless, and painful. Negative things abound in a telestial world. But the creation story teaches me that as His child I have the power to change the negative into something positive. When I encounter negative situations I can follow His example and command, “Let there be light.”
The way I use this is when I come into a negative situation, such as grief, stress, being critical of others, feeling discouraged, feeling rebellious, any negative thing, I press my tongue to the ridge in the roof of my mouth and say the words, “Let there be light” or “Let in the light.” It may sound silly, and I’m not sure why or how it works, but it does. When I do this, I can feel the negative feeling leave and the positive “light” take its place. The words would probably be enough, but pressing my tongue gives me a physical sensation that then becomes connected to this change in feelings and like Pavlov’s dog it helps assure the response. It is also something I can do without anyone seeing or knowing what I am doing.
I know it sounds over simplified, but commanding light worked when creating a world and it works in creating our lives.
[photo by Gilbert Tremblay]