It was summertime, 1979.
"You're it!"
Kick the Can or Hide and Seek were the highlights of our evenings at Cholla Mobile Home Park, located on the southeast border of Joseph City, Arizona, the town of my youth.
Nighttime was the best for these games as it afforded the most imaginative hiding spots. When you stood still and held your breath as "It" ran past, there was a good chance you would escape notice in the shadows. If you were lucky, you could make a break from your hiding spot and get to base safely. Home base, illuminated by a security light, was good at attracting flying insects, bats, and the sneaky, ninja-like kids running to base, calling out, "home free."
With nearly forty homes in the park at its zenith, we never lacked friends and siblings with which to play. There were usually at least eight of us kids playing at a time. Both boys and girls, we ranged in age from tweens to late teens. The news of these shenanigans spread throughout the school. We had friends join us from town on several occasions. Cutoffs, t-shirts, tube socks, and "skunks" were the fashion on those hot summer days. I fancied myself a pretty fast sprinter in my skunks.
Crouched just behind the back of the trailer, I waited for my break. If the security light illuminated even one part of me, I'd be tagged by "It." When I thought my chances were good, I stole away to home base. I could hear the hurried footsteps gaining ground behind me. Mere seconds before "It" tagged, I made it into the light and hollered out, "home free!" My adrenalin ran high and energized as I turned to see "It" dangerously close to me. It was a narrow escape.
My supersonic Skunks.
Now, back in the day, I didn't know who God was except perhaps a giant white-haired man sitting on a chair in the clouds waiting to judge me when I messed up. The thought of being smitten for my wrongdoings was scary. I never liked getting in trouble and mostly tried not to mess up too badly. I tried to learn from the mistakes of others. Full disclosure - I'm still that way. Don't get me wrong. I was responsible for plenty of rotten things in my life that, I'm sure, grieved God. I was and am not beyond reproach. God knows all my hiding spots. That's the way with all of us, isn't it? We all have things hidden in the shadows that others can't see. The human condition makes all of us susceptible to the "Its" that loom in the darkness.
The thing is, God is not the "It" chasing us down to tag us out. Rather, He is the light that we are running toward.
Jesus said in the book of John 8:12, "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life." Darkness cannot abide the light. John 1:5 says, "The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it." 1 Thessalonians 5:4-5 recorded, "But you are not in darkness, brothers, for that day to surprise you like a thief. For you are all children of light, children of the day. We are not of the night or of the darkness." So, I have a question for you today. What are the "Its" that are trying to chase you down? Have you been running from them without the help of Heaven's light? Have you stuffed them under a rug and tried to forget about them? Has "It" caught up to you, tagging you over and over again? My friend, you are not alone. Thankfully, we have a loving God and not some symbolic cartoon character in the sky. We have the Father of lights, from whom we have received every good thing given and every perfect gift. In Him, there is no variation or shifting shadows. He longs to draw you out of the darkness and into his presence. Are you ready to run toward the light? Ready…set… let's go!
Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.
James 1:17 NIV
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