Acts 26:18 To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me.

The days of negative film is dwindling. Digital photography is taking over the industry. The lessons of developing a negative are slipping fast from our memories. I took some classes, so I have some exposure to the subject. In there I see an analogy of Christian living.

A negative image is created by light in a dark place. The development of that image is like being born of water. Light may pass through a negative, but for all practical purposes it remains a negative. It is always seen as a negative. The light can do nothing but expose it for what it is, a negative.

The negative will always be seen as negative unless the light shining through the negative is exposed on a pure unexposed white developing paper. The negative is then seen on the developing paper as a positive image. This positive image is our life in Christ, our sanctification, being born again, the second birth.

That image, its clarity, and accurate representation in the positive are dependent on three things. The best rendering is a contact sheet, with the negative and the developing agents pressed upon each other. The further away, the grainier the image. That picture may look OK from a distance but close up it will be hard to focus on the image.

The second is the proper exposure to the light. The light must be the true light, a pure white light, not a light that has warmer or cooler tones. Colored lights will render a false image on the developing paper. The Word of God is the proper source of the exposing light.

The third is the developing time. The process of developing a positive image is not instant. The clarity of the image emerges over time. That process happens because of the developer, not the negative. This is the process by which we are transformed into the image of Jesus Christ. Our negative turned to a positive.

2 Corinthians 4:6 For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

Job 3:6 As for that night, let darkness seize upon it; let it not be joined unto the days of the year, let it not come into the number of the months.

I have in the past made a joke out of this passage. It went something like this. Job was born on February 30^th and he cursed the day he was born for so long, he cursed it right off the calendar. OK, maybe it isn’t all that funny, especially for someone who can identify with the pain that Job felt.

Chapter 2 of Job is where his three friends agree together to come together and try and comfort Job. It is obvious to me that these men cared about Job. They came from different regions as they did not live in the same area as Job. They recognized Job’s grief and for seven days said nothing as they sat with him.

Mourning is like that, they did good in my experience. Having suffered loss, I recognize that early words rarely are heard and if heard only fall on the ears and do not touch the heart. Jesus said to mourn with those that mourn, so this was good.

Then Job spoke cursing the day he was born. His expression of the depth of his pain is hard to hear. It was then after this that his friends tried to fix Job in their own strength and wisdom, which failed. This too is common among many of us. We turn to our own experiences, our own solutions, what worked for us and if that fails, feel exasperated. What went wrong?

Matthew 18:20 For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.

Jesus centered togetherness brings He who is able above all to heal into the event. We have to remember to bring Jesus to the gathering, we need to invite Him first.