“So we have the prophetic word made more sure, to which you do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star arises in your hearts.” (2 Peter 1:19)
The Apostles were eye witnesses of the Lord Jesus as He was transfigured before them on the mount. God turned their eye witness account into His holy word, which by nature of His inability to lie, every word is true, and completely reliable.
For this reason we ought to pay careful attention to what God has said, and consider it as a hand held lamp, which is only able to give light to our feet in a dark place. It is only as we pass through the trials of life that God takes the word that He has sown as seeds of light in our heart, and turns them in a light as bright as the noon day sun. Such light can give meaning to our sufferings, if we have paid payed proper attention to what He has said.
I was seated in the doctor’s office waiting for my wife as she got examined during the pregnancy of our daughter. Reading from The Book of Romans, it became very clear to me that the apostle was speaking about salvation in the past tense. When I realized that the Christians to whom the apostle Paul was speaking were considered saved, I began to praise God in the depth of my heart. Prior to that moment I had no assurance of salvation, which made it very hard for me to fall asleep at night, not knowing where I would be, should I awake in death.
So when I lost my house, which was attached to the job that was taken from me, and my health failed me, so that I landed in the hospital, I did not fear. This all happened mind you in a period of weeks. You just haven’t experienced the best in life until you are laying flat on your back, in the hospital, and a nurse wakes you in the middle of the night, with the words, “I’m not being fresh, I just want to see if you’re still breathing.”
Only the unalterable word of God, which alone is inerrant and infallible, can give a peace that passes all understanding, in such a case. Throughout my life there have been periods of darkness, followed by great light. As the Latin phrase from the Protestant Reformation suggests, ‘Post Tenebras Lux’ or After the Darkness Light. After this present world was cast into darkness as the result of man’s fall into sin, Christ became the light and forgiveness through His death and resurrection from the grave.
“For God, who said, “Light shall shine out of darkness,” is the One who has shone in our hearts to give the Light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.” 2 Corinthians 4:6