If we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin (1 John 1:7, esv).
Where is the absolute safest place for you to be? In the light. And this isn’t just about physical safety, as Jesus shows us clearly in John 11. When Jesus said to His disciples, “Let us go to Judea again” (John 11:7), shortly after hearing that his friend Lazarus was deathly sick, they urgently reminded Him what had happened the last time they were there. Jesus had been teaching, certain members of the Jewish religious leadership had gotten agitated and combative, and at one point they had “picked up stones to throw at him” (John 8:59).
It had been a dark day, as they recalled.
Remember, Lord? Not so long ago? The big rocks? The clenched fists? “The Jews were just now seeking to stone you,” they said, “and are you going there again?” (John 11:8).
Their question may sound reasonable to us, as it obviously did to them. Was Jesus really serious about going back to the mob scene in that place? But His answer, immediately given, sounds like the kind of reasoning you can build your whole life on.
“Are there not twelve hours in the day?” He said. Jesus was referring to twelve hours of sunshine, of physical daylight. “If anyone walks in the day, he does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world” (11:9). Everybody knows that, right? In the middle of the day, you can see exactly where you’re going. But the same logic, He said, applies spiritually as well: “If anyone walks in the night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him” (11:10). This light, in other words, is something we can actually carry around inside us—the light of Christ, the freedom of living in obedience to Him, submitting to His will.
When we’re walking in that light, nothing can truly hurt us.
Of course, Jesus hadn’t forgotten about the rocks poised to throw at Him in Judea—the same ones in the same hands that could easily have been waiting there for Him again. He didn’t need His disciples to refresh His memory. But He did need to remind them what His Word continues to tell us . . . that when we are doing the will of God, when we are walking in the light of obedience, when we are submitting to His plans for us—no matter how frightening—we can keep going confidently forward into the future without fear. For “if anyone walks in the day, he does not stumble.”
Are you in the throes of a difficult decision that needs to be made? A choice between scary and safe? Between courageous and comfortable? Between unknown risks and better known security?
The safest place for you is in the center of God’s will for you. Because when you’re walking in that light, you can do anything He leads you to do. You can stand up for truth without worrying about the fallout. You can make a big move without doubting He’ll take care of you. You can choose the harder thing to do, knowing it’s often the right thing to do, and then watch Him do an even bigger thing through you than if you’d stayed content hanging back in the dark.
The center of God’s will is not necessarily an easy place. But trust me, comfort and convenience are way overrated compared to partnering with God through obedience. Because when you walk in that light, nothing can truly hurt you.
Journal
Pray
Father God, just as Jesus shocked and stretched the disciples, so He continues to stretch me. He never pursued what was easy or comfortable; He chose what was best. And He showed us that the best, safest place to live is in the middle of Your will. Like Jesus, with Jesus, and for Jesus, I want to walk in the light. Please give me the courage to let go of what’s comfortable and choose to live and walk in the light. In the name of Jesus, who is “the light of the world” (John 8:12), I pray, amen.