Part 2
The night is far gone; the day is at hand.
So then let us cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light.
Romans 13:12 (ESV)
In an introduction to the song I Can Only Imagine, Wynonna Judd shared advice that her mother, Naomi, gave her… “Let them see your brokenness. Let them see the cracks in your armor—that’s how the light gets out!” As a believer, we are instructed to put on armor in Ephesians 6 but how novel to think that the manifestation of the light of God would flow through cracks in that armor!
God’s light is beautiful. It is mesmerizing, and we are inexplicably drawn to it because it pleases our aesthetic senses, especially our sight. We can be deeply moved by what we see, hear and feel in these kinds of beautiful moments:
a soldier returning home from war
a blanket of new-fallen snow in the moonlight
a poignant version of Gabriel’s Oboe from The Mission
a powerful man cuddling a newborn baby
a couple dancing exuberantly at their wedding
a little boy blowing out a birthday candle through a straw
a whale shark freed from a fishing net by a diver
a friend who says, “I’ve got you!”
Light is the person of God breaking through cracks in the universe, permeating my life and tweaking my senses. It is the light of His holiness emanating from His presence—escaping boundaries, borders and restrictions to bring me beautiful glimpses of His great love—His truth, His goodness.
Thus was beauty sent from heaven—the lovely mistress of truth and good in this dark world.
—Mark Akenside, The Pleasures of Imagination
In my pursuit of the light, beauty appears regularly on my radar screen. My dream statement includes the word beauty: I was born to be a visionary idealist destined to create redemptive beauty for the sovereign purposes of God. As a daughter of God, I partner with Him to bring beauty into this world.
The light of God flows all around me because He cannot be contained! He breaks through! I notice it, I see it, I feel it, I hunger for more—and one day my short glimpses of beauty will turn into long gazes that will last forever!