Title: A Light in a Dark Time
Plot: A battle plan for the forces of light
Notes:
Listen to "A Light in a Dark World (Coronavirus Update)" on Spreaker.
Full Transcript
A Light in a Dark World
This is my third Coronavirus podcast, And it represents the reversal of the decision I made earlier. I told myself I wasn’t going to talk about this ever again. However, upon further reflection I realized that it is the function of light to resist darkness. And that by the way is why you are here. God led you here, and I will spend the rest of this podcast proving that, and by the end of it you will not only completely understand, but you will be excited just as light as excited.
God led you to this podcast because you are the light he is going to use to push back the darkness.
For a moment, it makes sense to acknowledge the darkness, but the bulk of this podcast is about resisting it rather than dwelling on it and there is an important difference. Because we cannot resist what we fail to acknowledge, but we do not defeat it by marinating in it. We must be careful not to allow the darkness to overcome us.
It is written: do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. And it is also written: the light shines in the darkness and the darkness comprehended it not.
Meaning, that God is calling you to be a light and warning you that you will not make sense to those who are in darkness, until after they are convinced by the self-evident nature of your light. They will understand when they join you.
The battle between light and darkness is one of conversion. Like the game of Othello, darkness tries to jump light forcing it to change it’s color. But light should respond by refusing to turn, even when it’s jumped. And then by multiplying itself rather than becoming discouraged and behaving overwhelmed. Because make no mistake the state of being overwhelmed is a behavior. You are only overwhelmed when you give up. And so the only thing we should be failing at is failing to give up.
I will take a moment to give an update to the light on the status of the darkness, but this only a status update, not an indication of defeat or surrender.
On a phone call today with coworkers from all over the world, I was told that people are concerned. Some state governments are banning gatherings of 50 people or more, some businesses are closing for the foreseeable future and workers are being encouraged to work from home. The shelves in grocery stores are noticeably missing certain items. And this is a world-wide phenomenon that’s creating a sense of urgency among people everywhere. So if you heard my first two podcasts and concluded I had my head in the sand, I assure you, I’m getting updates. But I’m managing those updates. I refuse to listen to anything about the Coronavirus for more than 30 minutes per day and I encourage my friends to avoid talking about it. Because marinating in darkness has a panic inducing effect that only contributes to more darkness. And that is not the function of light. Light is aware of the darkness, but it pushes it back.
During a one hour phone call, I spent 45 minutes listening to my coworkers talk and at one point they said, “Tom, what do you think?” And I said, “I think it’s interesting that people seem to fear this virus so much that whenever I go shopping the stores are full of people and the shelves are empty.” That doesn't make sense. I don’t think we really fear getting sick, I think we fear running out of food and going hungry. And if we just stopped panicking, the emergency would be over tomorrow.
I didn’t hear a single objection to that statement because everyone on the phone had spent the last 45 minutes saying things that revealed they were out shopping. Snatching up whatever they could find.
Step #1 is to make the decision right now that you refuse to turn to the dark side.
One of the primary ways that we resist darkness is by exposing it, disagreeing with it, and by constantly remaining plugged into our power source.
Which leads to step 2:
Step #2. Spend more time plugged into your power source than monitoring the movements of darkness, because the brighter you are, the more you will see. While you can certainly plug in to me, I suggest you spend your new found free time reading the Bible, praying and worshipping God. I would even recommend fasting.
Our power source is the word of God. It is better to read that and spend your time meditating and marinating in that, then listening to your local news station. We need to be plugged into God now more than ever, because darkness is making an aggressive move now. This move is not coming from God, this is an enslavement attempt being orchestrated by the forces of darkness and right now is the easiest time to resist it. It is practically effortless. Do not exchange your freedom for two weeks of vacation with pay. Do not succumb to the fear and panic of an imaginary virus spreading around the world.
Five years ago I wrote a fictional book called Thunderstruck where it would seem that unbeknownst to me, I was prophesying to this very situation, and the whole thing was aborted with a monumental act of stupidity.
Yes, that's right, it's not always wisdom that defeats the powers of darkness, sometimes there is no more potent force than abject stupidity.
Make no mistake, the devil is smart, but God is infinitely wiser. He confounds the wise with foolishness.
During WWII the men and women in the Navy were instructed not to go above deck to smoke cigarettes at night. And the reason given was compelling: the light from the butt of a cigarette can be seen for 12 miles at night. Making them an easy target for enemy ships.
I use that illustration not to warn you that you will make yourself a target, but rather to illustrate the penetrating power of a single point of light. If one tiny light can be seen for 12 miles, then imagine what will happen if that one light, lights another. And if the two lights, light two others. In a single day or even in a single hour, the whole world can receive the message and drive back the forces of darkness. The key the way to win is not to be afraid. We have nothing to fear, but fear itself.
You are here, because God led you here. You are a disruptor. Light is a disruptor. And you need to multiply yourself. How do we do that? If you were a candle and you were sitting next to another you would light it and you would instruct that candle to light the next. And you yourself would continue lighting candles until every last candle was lit and illumination prevailed.
I dropped everything and made this podcast now, because I felt that nothing was more important.
Do not abdicate your freedom because of the boogey man. And remember that odds are good you have at least one friend who will pretend to have this condition, to enjoy the attention playing sick on their deathbed will bring. If you contribute to this lie, you risk losing your freedom. Because remember, this is a worldwide phenomenon. Meaning this move was planned and orchestrated for a reason. Therefore, do not contribute, because two weeks of paid vacation and a little extra attention, is not worth it!
As always, thank you for listening and y'all come back now, ya hear?
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