LifeDate Winter 2024 – Life Shines in Darkness
by Pastor Michael Salemink
“In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it” (John 1:4-5).
The 1993 blockbuster film Jurassic Park didn’t just spawn dinosaurs. It also gave us two of the most poignant sanctity of life affirmations in popular culture. Dr. Ian Malcolm, a chaos theorist played by Jeff Goldblum, laments that “Scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could, they didn’t stop to think if they should.” And the same character appreciates how “Life, uh, finds a way.”
Nobody can deny that life issues involve difficulties. Surprise pregnancy and terminal diagnosis bring significant suffering. Bearing a child is hard. Injury, illness, and impairment hurt. They impose and deprive. Feeling afraid, ashamed, impoverished, abused, or abandoned sometimes complicates the circumstances. Even Jesus recognizes the reality: “When a woman is giving birth, she has sorrow because her hour has come” (John 16:21). “In the world,” He goes on to acknowledge, “you will have trouble” (John 16:33). The Darkness is real, and it is deep.
It’s just that it does not negate the light. The burdens do not cancel the blessings. The sorrows don’t even equal the celebrations. God always makes life, and He always makes life worth it. The Good Giver of Life also accompanies each one as the Almighty Lord of “my power is made perfect in weakness” (2 Corinthians 12:9). The crucifixion forgiveness of Jesus Christ proves that He constantly populates the adversities themselves with delights.
However compromised—and we all are—every neighbor embodies a gift. However imperfect, every day comes as opportunity and privilege. They usually require patience and persistence, of course, and not a little bit of shared sweat and tears. But they turn out the sweeter for it. “When she has delivered the baby, she no longer remembers the anguish, for joy that a human being has been born into the world” (John 16:21). “Take heart; I have overcome the world” (John 16:33)!