Fence Post Devotionals

By Mel Hooten / August 29, 2025

Light

“Then Jesus again spoke to them, saying, “I am the Light of the world; he who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life” John 8:12 (The Gospel of John Cowboy Style).

King George VI of England in his 1939 war time broadcast to the British Empire during the German Blitz against the United Kingdom quoted from a poem written by Minnie Louise Haskins: “Gate of the Year” . . .

And I said to the man who stood at the gate of the year,

“Give me a light that I may tread safely into the unknown.”

And he replied:

“Go out into the darkness and put your hand into the hand of God. That shall be to you better than light and safer than a known way.”

So I went forth, and finding the hand of God, trod gladly into the night. And He led me towards the hills and the breaking of day in the lone East.

The moment I read the quote from Haskin’s poem, it immediately caught my attention–perhaps because of a personal situation I am presently dealing with in my own life. I have recently been diagnosed with Large “B” Cell Lymphoma, an aggressive cancer that has attacked my body. Both the cancer and treatment are wreaking havoc on my physical health.

I am walking a dark path. It is a rocky path, steep at times and with deep ravines to cross. It is a journey I have never been on before–a step into a darkened corridor through which I had never entered before. Others have. But wholly strange, dark, and mysterious to me.

How does one enter the unknown? How does one navigate a darkened world of fear? How does a person keep going when there is no strength to go forward and little breath to meet the next obstacle–a world of endless hardship never encountered before?

King Charles VI Christmas Message: his quote from “Gate of the Year” gives an answer. From a faith perspective (“For we walk by faith, not by sight” 2 Corinthians 5:7) promises that in God’s guidance, our step is not into darkness but into the light of His presence.

And certainly, that has proved to be true for me. Not to say that it has been easy going. It is the greatest physical hardship I have ever faced for any prolonged period of time. At times I have glimpsed death’s door when it would have been easier to just turn toward it. But I sense it is not yet time. I don’t know how to proceed except to keep holding on to God’s hand. He makes the way free of fear, for as the poem so accurately says . . .

“Go out into the darkness and put your hand into the hand of God. That shall be to you better than light and safer than a known way.”

I have stretched my hand into the darkened corridor, and have discovered not darkness, but the very brightness of the light of God Himself–God’s presence into whose Hand I placed mine.

“This is the message He has given us, and now I know from personal experience. I announce to you, that God is Light, and in Him there is no darkness at all” 1 John 1:5