From Darkness to Light

“The people living in darkness have seen a great light, and for those living in the land of the shadow of death, a light has dawned.” Matthew 4:16

I looked through the window at the bare trees and brown grass in my backyard. A cold February day in Alabama. When I arose from my living room chair to get another cup of coffee, my stiff legs protested. Age had caught up with my body since I’ve lived on earth for over seven decades. No wonder my thoughts led me to the eternal God.

I set my cup of coffee on the side table and relaxed into my chair again. With closed eyes, I wondered what the Holy Spirit might want to communicate. The notion astonished me. God is the eternal One who has no beginning or ending. “Before the mountains were born or you brought forth the whole world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God. Psalm 90:2

That’s not something I can wrap my mind around. Then the notion hit a brick wall, and it was impossible to internalize the thought.

No beginning? There was never a time when God didn’t exist. He’s always been. Wait! It’s easy to write the words, but impossible to comprehend them. Yet by faith, I know they’re true. “Fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith.” Hebrews 12:1-3

I tried to picture eternity—life after this life. Time doesn’t exist in Heaven though it’s a real place. The Heavenly existence is always in the present. Someday I will live in eternity with God in a perfect state that never ends. Perfect because He is perfect. Then I will understand how God has no beginning and no ending. “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.” Revelations 22:13

My lofty thoughts returned me to my living room. I could only say with David: “Bless the Lord, O my soul: and all that is within me. Bless his holy name.” Psalm 103:1