I was sitting on my back porch tonight enjoying the crickets and the peace of knowing the house is about to rest for the day and I glanced up and admired the stars. It is really quite amazing to live out in the “country” and be able to look up at the sky uninhibited by any bright fluorescent distractions.
Immediately God whispered to me almost in an audible voice…”Keep shining” and I smiled to myself as I remembered the sermon I had the privilege of sitting in on this past week.
We visited with a church that we don’t normally attend that a friend of ours is the pastor of…and it was a refreshing and wonderful service. It was a service meant to compel the audience to be different in this dark world…and to shine our light so that those who need to see it can. The pastor’s passion was contagious….his energy so bright and lively that it was almost like the Holy Spirit was going cartwheels inside his body and it was all he could do to not erupt in a yell or a dance while speaking.
One thing he mentioned was the visual of a single light that was lit in a dark room…how in the presence of light…its as if darkness disappeared completely. Its a visual that I have heard many times…but his following words are what spoke the most to me. I am paraphrasing but basically it was…” sometimes when people have spent too much time in the dark…they almost retreat from the light…it hurts their eyes and it is uncomfortable and they will run away from it and not to it”.
I immediately thought of my 10 year old…who literally needs an hour to adjust to the light after waking. She will get dressed in the dark and sit and slowly let herself adjust…because she hates the blinding light when she wakes. She squints and whines and over the years I have just chosen to not fight the battle and to allow her the time she needs to adjust.
What a powerful metaphor for the people of this world we are trying to reach with the light of Jesus. I think sometimes as Christians we expect that if we shine so bright into everyone around us that they will be drawn to us like a moth to a flame…and that that fire we have will eventually just consume all of them and they will then come to know this hope we have and be like us….but then we get discouraged when they seem to retreat. The fact is…that we have to keep shining…even when we feel like its not working. We have to keep trying to show the love of Christ to others….even when it seems in vain.
As I look up to the sky tonight…and see the stars in all of their brilliance and wonder…I then take a moment and realize…if there wasn’t so much darkness in the night sky…the stars wouldn’t be so precious. If there wasn’t so much darkness around us…we wouldn’t need to shine. We wouldn’t have a purpose in spreading the light of Jesus…because there would be no darkness to try to overcome. The presence of darkness in our lives or around us should not be a means of discouragement…in fact…the presence of darkness around us through people, relationships, situations…should almost be a comfort because its proof that God is going to use us!
My challenge to you tonight…is to look square in the face of darkness and choose to shine your light. Only in the presence of light can darkness truly be overcome. Don’t hide it…don’t keep it for yourself. Share your light with those around you…they may run at first…they may hesitate….they may even grimace and hide under the covers like my 10 year old….but if we don’t ever shine for them…all they will know is darkness..and that is no way to live your life.
“14 “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven” Matthew 5:14-16
COALS OF MY HEART 