I have been thinking about being the light a lot. God has been giving me several images of being the light and what it does. It was helpful that in a time of darkness God reminded me that I was letting satan hide my brightness. Last week I went through a time of high stress and where everything bothered me. I was on the verge of tears and showing signs of stress. It came to a peak on Friday where everything was just bad. So much on my mind, and I was anticipating things in the next coming weeks. I am working a lot of hours to cover some people at my work taking vacation. I am finding the less that I initiate conversations with my friends, the less they try and communicate with me. The whole situation makes me very sad.
A lot of other things are going on too. But I don't feel like sharing it right now. Overall God has been good. I cried that Friday night, and as my mom says, "let some stress out by crying."
So back to the light. I have been trying to figure out how to put the images into words. Last week I felt like I was being consumed by the darkness, with my light slowly fading. Then God pops this image into my head about Matthew 5:14-15, "You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand and it gives light to all in the house." I see this that God makes us a light not to shine with other lights but to shine where it counts in the dark.
What is stronger? What burns brighter? If there is one light among many lights, can you really see the power of that one light? No, you can't because it can be outshone by the other lights. What if the light stands alone and there is no other light around it, can it be seen alone in all of its glory? It was made for that job. It was made to be the light of the world. How glorifying is that? Such an awesome sight.
Matthew 5:16, states, "In the same way let your light shine before others so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven."
In other words, we as Christians need to work hard at realizing the schemes of the devil. He tries to smudge our light out and make us weak. He tells us lies and puts out fires in our hearts. He spreads rumors about our friends, and kills all of our support. Telling us we have nothing to live for or even nothing to help us out of the hole. He isolates and he laughs at us when we feel down. God comes in and shows us what we can't see. That satan was wrong. I see God as a father figure. He doesn't laugh and is always there for us. As in the words of my friend Marjorie, "the Lord is strong and mighty."
As Christians we also need to work hard at being a light. We need to shine bright. In the darkness especially. It is so easy to be a beacon with others, and not see the real importance of shedding light into the dark corners of the world.
So in ending this post, I have realized the importance of how being a light can be glorifying. God loves to see us shine. He doesn't want us to be downtrodden. He loves us and ultimately wants to see others find their light so He can be glorified.
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