“From Darkness to Light”

“Let there be light,” said God (Genesis 1:3, Moses 2:3, Abraham 4:3). He dedicated the first day of the Creation to creating light and dividing it from darkness. (See Genesis 1:4, Moses 2:4, Abraham 4:4.)

Since that time, Satan has worked tirelessly to remove light from our lives or to prevent us from perceiving light. (See Doctrine and Covenants 93:39, Isaiah 5:20, 2 Nephi 15:20.)

Jesus came to bring light to those who walk in darkness. (See Isaiah 9:2, 2 Nephi 19:2, Matthew 4:16, Luke 1:79.) No wonder that when He called Paul to be His disciple, He defined Paul’s mission as opening the eyes of the people and “[turning] them from darkness to light” (Acts 26:18). The nature of his conversion experience emphasized that mission. He and the people with him saw a bright light “above the brightness of the sun.” (See Acts 9:3, Joseph Smith Translation of Acts 9:7, Acts 22:6, 9, Acts 26:13.) The light was so bright that it blinded him. (See Acts 22:11.) He was unable to see anything for three days. When another disciple of Christ named Ananias blessed him, “immediately there fell from his eyes as it had been scales: and he received sight forthwith” (Acts 9:18). What an appropriate metaphor for the work Paul would do for the rest of his life!

All of us pass through periods of darkness. Like the Nephites and the Lamanites after the death of Jesus Christ, we may feel that we are surrounded by “thick darkness…so that there [cannot] be any light at all” (3 Nephi 8:20-21). But like Paul’s blindness, this was a temporary experience. After three days, “the darkness dispersed from off the face of the land…and their mourning was turned into joy, and their lamentations into the praise and thanksgiving unto the Lord Jesus Christ, their Redeemer” (3 Nephi 10:9-10).

Nephi testified, “The Lord God worketh not in darkness” (2 Nephi 26:23). The apostle Paul told King Agrippa something similar: “This thing was not done in a corner” (Acts 26:26). Light is available to us, and God’s servants teach us what we must do to receive it. (See John 8:12, Doctrine and Covenants 93:28.)

Today, I will walk in the light. I will follow the Savior and receive the light that He brings into our lives. I will also strive to help others emerge from darkness into the light.