Have you ever wondered why God calls us to be the “light” in the darkness? We know there is darkness because we see it each night. That’s when we know it’s “night time” or that’s it’s “getting late”. We’ve seen physical darkness, most of us as kids that scared us and some of us we loved it. I was the kid who had to sleep with a nightlight, because I was scared of the dark. As I grew older I grew less and less scared of the physical darkness. I started welcoming it, because I knew it meant physical rest.
I bet your wondering where this is going?
Well you see what there is physically, there is emotionally. You hear God telling us to “Be the light in the dark.”. We sing about it as kids.
“This little light of mine, I’m going to let it shine…. Hide it under a bushel- NO! I’m gonna let it shine.”
And yes, we had hand motions and sang and smiled. We always got clapped for because it was too cute and we went on about our lives. That’s the beauty of being a child, you know there is no emotional darkness waiting for you.
As we grow we sing less of that song and we just shrug it off saying, “I know I am a light in the dark.” . Maybe Physically we are with our flashlights and such, but that’s when God starts to test us.
You see in Matthew 5:14 it reads,
“You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden.”
As we grow we try to hide our light. No one else is glowing, why carry a light with me? Others try to let there light shine, but the wind is trying to blow it out. It’s shaken at times and may have to be relite, but it’s still shining. Others seem to carry their candle like a torch, bearing it with pride. Those are the people you notice more, but if you ask some of them why there light is so bright- they will tell you it’s because they just came out of “the darkness.”.
You see God tells us that our lights can look like a city on a hill…. I know what that looks like, because when I would drive to college right before I got to the last toll booth you could see the outline of all the cities. It was like tiny candles, individually lite, placed all along the hillside to light the way. And that’s what God wants us to be, just like that.
Unfortunately, emotional darkness steps in. God tests you and trails hit. It’s like a hurricane and a tornado collided in your home and the sound is over bearing, your world starts to shatter, the earthquake shakes your life, and when it lightens up the rain pours, and it’s just you and your significant other trying to stand from the debris that use to be called “home” your “safe place”. “If God would have just warned you then you would have prepared”, you yell as the wind whails and whips. God told us that the enemy comes to “Kill, steal, & destroy, like a theft in the night.” You never know when a theft may show up, you thought you had your home “unbreakable”. You thought you was prepared. That’s when the darkness comes in.
You begin to wonder if your tiny light you once held will ever shine again? Did the wind blow it out completely? If we call upon God to relight our candle, He said he would. Right? In the darkness it’s hard to imagine what light would look like, what it would start to show… That’s why I posted this photo below. It’s not a fancy photo, it’s not photoshopped, but as I was looking at it I noticed something. That the light coming in started to run the darkness away. It starts to show off the beauty within the darkness, because as I wrote earlier we are like flowers. Therefore we need the “Son Light”.
Although the darkness is not ran off completely, and it may never go away, we have to worry not and lean not on our own understanding- because we don’t know what God has in store for us. We don’t know what he’s trying to show us. He said we have to have faith, faith of a mustard seed to be exact, to move mountains in our lives.
So some of you thing that my husband and I are holding a torch when it comes to faith and shining a light. Let me tell you we feel like the one who’s trying to keep there candle alive and keeping it from being blown out by the wind. I have to remind myself that we are to do what Matthew 5:16 says,
“In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.”
It’s not easy shining a light when you don’t feel like holding your candle, but if you can hold on to your light during the storm, walking with it casually won’t be a problem at all. So I encourage you to lift up your candle, because someone out there is trying to light theirs. Help them, pray for them, ask them what they need. This road is long and few are on it. Don’t hide you light ever let it shine, let it shine, let it shine….
Thank you,
Marli
Just Being Marli 