The light of God’s love will never be removed.
You can listen to today’s devotion by clicking on this SoundCloud link.
“For it is you who light my lamp;
the LORD my God lightens my darkness.
For by you I can run against a troop,
and by my God I can leap over a wall.”
Psalm 18:28 English Standard Version
Something is definitely missing in the picture.
On February 29, 1896 (yes this is a leap year lighthouse) the Fourth Order Fresnel lens lit the mouth of the Coquille River for the first time. The town of Bandon, Oregon had waited a long time for this lighthouse. Congress approved a jetty on the south side of the river in 1880. This jetty made the Coquille River navigable for ships ready to reap a harvest of virgin timber further up-stream. However, fog and ocean currents made it difficult to find the deep channel into the river. Ships needed a lighthouse to keep them in position to enter the harbor at high tide. The light finally glowed sixteen years later.
The lighthouse was abandoned in 1939, replaced by a new light at the end of the south jetty, and the light was removed. As a result, the lighthouse fell into disrepair, suffering both from vandals and the elements.
Our lives remain darkened without the love, grace, and mercy of God in Christ. As the light of the Coquille River lighthouse made it safe for ships to cross the bar, so God’s light gives us the ability to “run against the troops” that would leave us in darkness. It’s God’s light in Christ that empowers us to leap over the walls that prevent us from being the people he has called us to be.
God’s light is able to lighten our darkness because Jesus is that 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 English Standard Version
Unlike the Fourth Order Fresnel light at the Coquille River lighthouse, God’s love will never abandon us.
Text and Picture Copyright Douglas P Brauner
