Shine Your Light

You are the light of the world - like a city on a mountain, glowing in the night for all to see. Don’t hide your light under a basket!  Instead, put it on a stand and let it shine for all. 

Matthew 5:14-15

I really have to share this God moment with you.  It is 1:30 in the morning and I am awake ready to type my blog for today.  With the kids home from school I have had very little alone time and even less time to work on my blogs.  God had whispered a scripture in my ear early yesterday but I just never got a chance to type something up.  As I meditated on it throughout the day I went to bed with the hopes of God waking me in the middle of the night with an idea to type and share.  God woke me with a dog’s paw tapping my side of the bed at 1:30, so here I am.  I prayed before I opened my computer to start typing.  I pretty much knew what I wanted to share but I made sure to give God the last chance to change my mind or elaborate on what I had planned.  I finished my prayer and opened my phone’s bible app and todays scripture is Matthew 5:14 (You are the light of the world - like a city on a hilltop that cannot be hidden).  The exact scripture that I planned on sharing with you!  That is our God!  He is amazingly faithful to answer our prayers and guide us in His perfect time.  I just love Him!  

This story, and I promise every bit of it is true, is light to a dark and sinful world.  God isn’t asking us all to be pastors and bible scholars.  We don’t have to have great and big miracles to share.  God just wants us to share!  He commands us to get His word out and tell people about Him.  We don’t have to quote the bible and take classes in order to sound knowledgeable about God.  We just need to be aware of his work in our lives and then share what He is doing, big or small.  

Many of us, though, don’t realize that our light is important and some of us have let our light flicker out.  Society has made it very easy to ignore our dim light, after all, we can’t blend in to a dark world when we are shining brightly.  Then there are some of you who have a very bright light, but are embarrassed, or you just don’t know how to share it, so you hide it.  Whoever you are, and you know who you are, it is time to get real!  It is time to stop hiding the real you and own the life God has given you!  Stop hiding your insecurities and your problems.  We all face situations that are less than ideal but how will we ever help each other when we don’t admit we need God in our life?  Stop hiding the good things God is doing for you!  Don’t keep that goodness to yourself, give someone hope in your miracle stories!  

Light is such a friendly sounding word......it makes us think of something happy so people tend to only share the “good” things.  Friends, God can be found in a bad day, as well!  When we trust God completely, and we look for Him in our every day, He can be found in the bad situations we face.   It just takes us seeing God work in our life to shine just a little brighter.  We can use any circumstance in our life to shine God’s goodness to the people around us.  Don’t you think that people will be more willing to listen to your stories when you can tell them the bad along with the good?  God shines in the bad because eventually He makes it good!  He shines in the bad when we display peace as our world around us is crumbling.  So don’t hide the real you!  Don’t share only the happy moments but share the tough times too.  For some of us, we are living in a season of sadness and despair but when we can look past that hurt we can see God’s hand in making things better for us.  We can trust that he is there and that He knows what is best for us.  His promises are written and He can never let us down!  That is the kind of light people need to see in our world.  People need to see that even though your world is falling apart around you, you are still able to stand!  Yes things are bad at work but you can go home with a smile on your face.  Yes your family is divided but you are able to keep a positive attitude, trusting God is at work for you!  Sharing your “issues”, good or bad, shines a spotlight on God and directs people to Him.  It gives people hope to know that someone is facing a similar problem as them or that someone heard God speak to them that day.  It is encouraging to know that God answers prayers and that He delights in the little details of our life.  

I have learned a lot from people in my life and I can confidently say I've learned the most from those who are suffering and able to trust God through their not so happy circumstances. Don't get me wrong.......happy God stories and miracles are refreshing and can teach someone about the wonderful things God does but those are easy to share.  Shining our light in a dark world is a challenge when the world is waiting for us to fail and fall.  Shining our light on those failures and falls is a hard thing to do but it teaches so much more about God's mercy and love and provision.  Those stories are the ones that more people can relate to......they are real.  A dark world breeds dark circumstances......shine a spotlight on those circumstances........shine your light and direct people to God.