When my mother and I left the country I lost access to my dad. I was only 2 ½ years old when that happened. My dad saw us off at the airport; we said our goodbyes, turned around and walked away. I was just a baby, but I would never forget the sadness in his face. It was edged into my memory. All through my childhood I would associate my dad’s face with the image of God. I guess transferring a father image to God is not uncommon. And so, for the longest time I imagined God’s face to be sad.

Nobody on earth has seen the face of God, but the priestly blessing in the Pentateuch, the five books of Moses, gives us a pretty good idea (Numbers 6:24-26):

“The Lord bless you
    and keep you;
the Lord make his face shine on you
    and be gracious to you;
the Lord turn his face toward you
    and give you peace.”

God is light. His face shines. There is no darkness in Him at all. All life flows through Him, and He is forever connected to everything He has created.

When God is part of our lives He is connected to us. Suppose we say that we share life with God, but we have things to hide that we are ashamed of. Well, that does not work at all. Whether we hide from Him or not, He sees us; but He will be extremely delighted to see us coming out of the closet and bring those skeletons along that we had been storing out of sight. Lies and deceit isolate us. There is no lonelier place to be.

Our soul is made for fellowship, and fellowship does not happen in the dark. It only happens outside the closet, in the light. The secret to intimacy is staying in the light. And when darkness creeps in, we openly admit to it. We don’t try to hide it.

The Messiah died on the cross on a hill in plain view. All the darkness was dragged out into the light for public display. That’s exactly how darkness gets beat every time: by pointing a spotlight right into the heart of it. Exposing darkness brings the victory. That’s how we overcome. And the blood of Jesus, God’s wonderful Son, seals the deal. We step into the light and trust in His mercies. As a result, the toxic effects of our shady past, all doubts and regrets are being washed away.

Life is no walk in the park, but we are not alone. Walking in the light we feel connected because we share life with God and His people.