The nightly news is full of stories of theft, greed, violence, murder, mayhem, and in general with “man’s inhumanity towards man.”¹ The old newsroom saying “if it bleeds, it leads”² is an accurate portrayal of the nightly news, but the news is also an accurate reflection on the state of our society. If this type of story didn’t bring in the ratings the news would perhaps look quite a bit different. At the same time, because the news is also a reflection on society these stories happen all too often in every day life.

What is it that drives so many people to this point? Why do so many people seem to have a lack of respect for the lives of others?

Too many people in this world seem to be lost and without direction, feeling as if there is no meaning to life. They are always looking for the next big thing, the next thrill. “Life is short, play hard” was a successful slogan Reebok used in the ’90’s, while Nike had its “Just do it” campaign. Both of these campaigns were trying to capitalize on this philosophy of nihilism, the “live in the now” mentality.

Staring Into the Abyss

The world can be a dark place if you are wandering around aimlessly and without direction because you just don’t understand why any of this matters. Deep down inside people understand they are missing something and they are looking to fill that void. They try to fill this void with material goods, money, drugs and alcohol, power, position, and the list goes on. He who dies with the most toys wins, I’m sure you’ve seen that bumper sticker before. And many times this desire for something more leads to the stories we see on the news.

Some people will do just about anything to fill the void. The problem is that nothing seems to fit that void properly. No matter what they do, accomplish, or accumulate the empty feeling is still there. They cannot rid themselves of the dark shadow on their soul. This sense of longing, emptiness, and nothingness remains. They stare into the abyss and the abyss stares back.³

Darkness creeps into the world through the hearts of man when people do whatever is right in their own eyes⁴ trying to avoid making eye contact with the abyss. All of these things are distractions, they are not answers.

People doing whatever seems right to them was true in Old Testament times, and it is equally true in today’s era of moral relativism. The biggest difference is that today there are more distractions available to us, and they are more readily available. The internet gives us access to all types of information, and instant communication anywhere in the world. But it can also be a hedonistic playground that corrupts the youth, spreads disinformation and twists reality. We can go online and order pretty much anything we want, and in many cases we will have it in 24 hours. This is a remarkable triumph in technology, but it can also be a great curse.

I have written about this before, but this emptiness is a longing that only God can fill, it has become known as the “God-shaped hole,” and the way out of the darkness is to look to the light.

A Light Shines in the Darkness

Over 2,000 years ago a star broke through the darkness and pointed the way to a small town in the Middle East where the true light was coming into the world.⁵ He would transform the cold, dark world. A baby lay in a manger, the light has come into the world.⁶ This light would give life⁷ to anybody who received it for they would become children of God.⁸

People are stumbling through this life because they are walking in darkness⁹, but those who see the light of this world do not stumble.¹⁰ The ultimate key to happiness, the piece of the puzzle that so many people are missing, that hole in the soul that people are unable to fill, the darkness that looms in people’s hearts, can only be filled by Jesus Christ. Jesus is the way out of the darkness.

 “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”¹¹

We talked about some of the distractions people use to avoid the feeling of emptiness, but there is an answer that will fulfill that longing. The light of Jesus Christ is the only way out of the darkness, and while there is still darkness in the world today, Jesus’ light is still shining brightly for anybody who wants to walk into it.

For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.¹²

This does not mean that following Christ makes your life easier, however following Jesus will give your life meaning, and God will be there when you are down and when you feel the darkness creeping in. He will guide you and support you in the tough times.

even there your hand shall lead me,
    and your right hand shall hold me.
¹¹ If I say, “Surely the darkness shall cover me,
    and the light about me be night,”
¹² even the darkness is not dark to you;
    the night is bright as the day,
    for darkness is as light with you.¹³

Turn your face toward Christ and feel the warm glow of the light on your face. You will find the meaning of life and the purpose of this world in the arms of Jesus Christ. He is what you are longing for, reaching for, when you are stumbling in the darkness wondering what this life, and the next one, is all about.

So put away all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander.¹⁴

Let Jesus take you by the arm and pull you out of the darkness. For, as Augustine of Hippo said “our hearts are restless until they find rest in you.”¹⁵

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1. See “Man Was Made to Mourn” by Robert Burns ↩︎
2. Attributed to William Randolph Hearst ↩︎
3. Beyond Good and Evil by Friedrich Nietzsche ↩︎
4. Judges 17:6 ↩︎
5. John 1:9 ↩︎
6. John 3:19 ↩︎
7. John 8:12 ↩︎
8. John 1:12 ↩︎
9. Paraphrase of John 11:10 ↩︎
10. John 11:9 ↩︎
11. John 8:12 ESV ↩︎
12. 2 Corinthians 4:6 ESV ↩︎
13. Psalm 139:10-12 ESV ↩︎
14. 1 Peter 2:1 ↩︎
15. Augustine of Hippo in “Confessions” ↩︎