We welcome Jordyn from our Marketing Team as she shares a personal reflection on the solar eclipse. Thank you Jordyn for your willingness to share about what God revealed to you. We are grateful for your heart and wisdom.
It was truly an amazing, once in a lifetime experience to see the 2017 Solar Eclipse hit totality in Nashville, Tennessee. An experience that many generations to follow will not have the privilege to see.
Our Nashville Mercy staff watched the eclipse and had the opportunity to discuss the experience. Before the eclipse, a staff member reminded us of the symbolism an eclipse can have in our lives. The symbolism between light and dark.
Before we discuss a symbolic meaning of an eclipse, let’s look at the literal meaning: an obscuring of the light from one celestial body by the passage of another between it and the observer or between it and its source of illumination.
If you saw the eclipse, then you can remember slowly seeing the moon pass in front of the sun. Little by little the moon continued to move in front of the sun, until, in the roughly two minutes of totality, Nashville became dark. The moon blocked the sun, created night, allowed the stars to shine, and prompted the crickets to chirp.
It was easy in the moment to think that the moon was bigger than the sun, therefore, had the ability to block the sun from earth. When in fact, the sun is roughly 400 times larger than the moon and 400 times farther away. It’s only because of these facts that the moon can give the illusion it is bigger than the sun. We easily forget that it’s all about perspective.
Often in our lives we allow similar perspective to rule and consume us, thinking our struggles are bigger than they are. We allow tough seasons, stressful days, or tedious tasks to fully block our light.
Whether it’s a stressful project at work, a family struggle at home, or a deeper place of darkness, it’s hard to see the light at the end of the tunnel.
We forget that Light, the God of the universe, is so much bigger than our darkness—whatever you’re going through, whether it’s just a bad day or a series of bad days turned to seasons. Here’s a reminder:
Your struggles and darkness < God’s goodness and light
If you’re struggling through the dark, here are some encouraging scriptures to help you keep perspective:
“I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness.” John 12:46
God came into the world so that we don’t have to stay in darkness. His light points us to hope.
“For it is you who light my lamp; the Lord my God lightens my darkness.” Psalm 18:28
The light may be blocked temporarily, but it does not stay blocked, it does not stay hidden. Darkness cannot overcome the light.
“Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” John 8:12
Jesus is the light of the world. When you stay relentless in pursuing faith, He will illuminate your path.
Let’s remind ourselves that although we may go through seasons of darkness, we serve a big and good God. Light always overcomes darkness.
