I've been through many blackouts, and I think every time I eventually do the same thing. I'll walk into a room knowing the lights do not work. Still, I flip the switch, and for a split second I'm surprised when nothing happens.
Some of that is muscle memory. That's what you do when you enter a room. You reach for the light because darkness isn't helpful. My body remembers the light, even when I know it's not there.
I'd like to think that's something God can teach us to be: light expectators. That is, people who live with the expectation that God will shine.
We aren't people who deny darkness. But we are people who refuse to believe it gets the final word. We are people who still reach out, still pray, and still show up, expecting God to act. Not because our conditions have improved, but because God has been faithful before.
Of course, the switch isn't the source of light. Flipping it doesn't restore power to the grid. It doesn't fix the outage. It does show me that I believe light belongs in this room. That's the kind of expectancy Isaiah sees when he says the people walking in darkness have seen a great light. Nothing had improved yet. The power wasn't back on, but God had already decided.
That's what Christmas announces. 
Christmas is God flipping the switch before the power seems to be back on. It's light entering the room while the darkness is still very real. In Jesus, God did not erase the darkness. God stepped into it.
When we keep flipping the switch, we are practicing the holy expectancy of Christmas, aligning ourselves with a God who has promised us light. And because God has promised, darkness never has the final word.
Stay blessed...john | 
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