Let Your Light Shine



The other morning as I walked into Prince's room I found his Lego Man Lantern still on in his bed.  It had apparently been on all night and the batteries were running low.  He was lit, but the light was dim.  I immediately started thinking about Bible verses with the word "light" in them.  There are a lot of them.  According to Google, the word "light" appears 272 times in the King James Bible.  These are the verses I've been pondering though:

Psalm 4:6 "Many are asking, 'Who can show us any good?'  Let the light of your face shine upon us, O Lord."
Psalm 27:1 "The Lord is my light and my salvation - whom shall I fear?"
Psalm 119:105 "Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path."
John 1:4 "In him was life, and that life was the light of men.  The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it."
John 8:12 "When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, 'I am the light of the world.  Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.'"



My thought has been that sometimes my light seems to go dim.  I'm tired, I've got a lot going on, sometimes I just feel blah.  How do I get out of that rut?  I turn to the source of the light ~ Jesus.  There have been times in my life when I felt like I couldn't fit one more thing in my day.  I'd fall asleep reading my Bible or praying and I didn't know how else to "fit God in."  My priorities were backward.  It isn't about fitting God into my day, it's about making time for Him so that I can make it through the rest of my day.  If I will start with devotions or meditating on Scripture and prayer I am energized to start the day.  Some days this is harder than others, but I'm not talking about a long time commitment.  There are days when I am up and dressed earlier and I can sit for 30 minutes or more and that's great.  However, most days I begin with a devotion for busy moms or just opening my Bible to find a morsel for meditation ~ something from God that I can think about as I get dressed and put my face on.  I pray over my children as I make their lunches, pray for Hubby as he travels an hour up the road to work, pray over those pictures of special friends on my fridge, pray for those I know have needs.  Sometimes I write Bible verses on sticky notes and post them on my mirror or somewhere I am going to see them as a help for memorizing Scripture. 

When I began to do this, I noticed something.  This little bit of time felt so good, that it made me hunger for more.  I carry a Bible in my car so that if I am waiting somewhere and I have a few minutes, I can open it up and read more.  I have Bibles by my desk at work and several devotional books so when I need encouragement I can open them right up.  When I am in the car by myself, sometimes I listen to praise and worship music, but sometimes I feel God nudging me to just be still and quiet and enjoy time with Him.  It took a while for me to get out of the habit of immediately turning on the radio, but it's a nice quiet to my otherwise noisy day. 

I am by no means an expert, nor am I perfect.  I just know how busy and crazy my life can get, and I feel like there might be other moms who get as overwhelmed as me.  Know that you aren't alone and that it is possible to keep your light shining brightly if you spend time with the source of that light.  The more you do it, the more time you will find to spend in His presence and others will see the light of Christ radiate through you.

I want to leave you with one last verse about light.  Matthew 5:14 "You are the light of the world.  A city on a hill cannot be hidden.  Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl.  Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house.  In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven."