You are I, we are meant to be lights in a dark world.
Our lives are meant to be a story of hope. One that others can bookmark and use for the sake of encouragement. But, if we are battered by fear, we will be crippled and unresponsive to some of the great needs that are in front of us. With every fear, with each new dark report, there is an opportunity to trust.
God says we are the lights in this world. Cities on a hill. The salt of the earth.
We are the ones who celebrate because we KNOW victory is coming.
I live a mile from the most recent Ebola scare in Texas. Some gal read the news report off of her cell phone while I sat in a waiting room during my son’s dentist appointment. Every eye in the room widened. Anger flared in our hearts. We shifted our eyes about in fear. Panic in our hearts, real panic. I glanced over and tried to make more sense of the lives sitting in front of me. One woman, a bible on her lap, studying for her bible study. A man who gave a complimentary “Amen” when someone said something he agreed with. There we were, the three of us, Christians… so, so scared.
Somebody made remarks about the government, another about Nigeria, and I… I just sat straight up. All of the comments seemed topical to me. Speculations that did not help at all.
Something fierce stirred within me. I am tired of Satan layering blankets of fear on God’s people. So hoping that Christians will sense the urgency to stand right where they are and be a light in a slowly dimming world. Refusing to be slapped around by all of the “what ifs” and “what might happen” in the world today.
I am not trying to dumb down the real threats in our world today. I wash my children’s hands. I pray. I watch the news. My feet are on the ground and I walk around just like you do. But, I need to remember and I want you to remember …our hearts are His.
My concern for us is this….if we are so incredibly distracted and absorbed in our fear, we will miss out on this great big opportunity to shine. To show that Jesus has ransomed us and we are free. Free to really live life in a world that is so afraid of losing it.
Something happened about a week before that I will not soon forget.
I was in the heart of North Dallas when a monstrous storm flew in. My children and I stood in the back of a small 7-11 convenience store while the sleet and hail pelted the windows and shook everything around us. Honestly..honestly… in that moment I honestly thought that the building was going to be moved, leveled. With a child on each side of me, I backed up, moved away from the windows and moved closer to the floor. I cannot say that I did not feel the fear in my humanness, that my heart did not quicken …that I did not look at both of my children with sober, solid concern. I did. I did. But what surprised me was the unconscious presence of peace. Not scared for me. Not scared for the eternity of my children. Peace in the center of my soul.
I have let this experience sit with me.
I walked away changed. Really.
What if we could come to the point where we are no longer afraid? What would happened if we could stand with each other, fully surrendered to what is coming?
What would happen to the world around us if we could REST knowing that we are held, and that God is living in us, and our eternity is accounted for?
If we could live without that FEAR, we would be dangerous. DANGEROUS for the LORD.
God has never allowed there to be darkness without calling up great big, bright lights.
You and I …we are the lights.
Please encourage another person today. You may just give them the courage they need for the next divine intersection in their lives.
Let’s remind each other that we are all going to be just fine..that God is hemming us in on all sides.
Let’s quote the Scriptures and sing a new song to the LORD…
The one that conceived us, birthed us, and has carried us all this way.
Let’s be fully present in our homes and communities and live, trusting.
Let’s stand firm while all the threats in this world swirl around us knowing…
We are HIS and our eternity is secure.
“Even to your old age and gray hairs I am he, I am he who will sustain you. I have made you and I will carry you; I will sustain you and I will rescue you.”
Isaiah 46:4
*photo by Mary Anne Morgan http://www.maryannemorganphotography.com
