Friday, February 8, 2019

Shine On


“The path of the righteous is like the first gleam of dawn,
shining ever brighter till the full light of day.
But the way of the wicked is like deep darkness;
they do not know what makes them stumble.”
     Proverbs 4:18-19 (NIV)

I’m an early bird and enjoy watching the sun rise. Of course, dawn doesn’t break and immediately we have full sunlight; instead, there’s the “first gleam of dawn” and then the sky gradually lightens.  Similarly, God’s word is a light to our path (Psalm 119:105), step by step, not a floodlight showing the full road ahead.  I sometimes wish more light would shine in certain areas of my life where I’ve been praying for wisdom and discernment because I get impatient. But even when the path seems dim, believers are assured that God’s true light will guide us if we wait and trust in Him.

By contrast, those in the world are in darkness and because they are without the Light, they stumble and don’t even know why.  I see so much darkness in the people around me (my family, friends, neighbors) and they don’t seem to realize they’re lost; and what’s worse, they don’t want the light (John 3:20).  This can be the case even for those who claim to be Christians.  I’ve recently been quite shocked to hear things from several people I know that don’t line up with God’s word; their words and actions seem to indicate they aren’t truly following Christ. . .and yet, they don’t want to hear the truth, they don’t heed it.

At times like this, I can start to feel overwhelmed, even hopeless; what can I say or do?  I try and shine my little candle, but how can that bit of light make a difference?  Then I’m reminded of something a pastor I know pointed out:  Not all the street lights are clustered on one corner; instead, they are spread out in all the dark places around the city; that’s how they make an impact.  Even a small candle seems bright in a dark place; in fact, the darker the room, the brighter it seems.  So I pray for strength to continue interceding for people and for boldness to keep “shining ever brighter till the full light of day.”  On that day, we won’t need the sun because we will be in the presence of the Son forever. Amen!

No comments:

Post a Comment