Being The Light

It’s one of those times when I am realising how much some people suffer and how good my life is in comparison.

Looking outside my own bubble, I see that there are kids growing up with alcoholic parents who abuse them. There are kids who don’t have any parents at all and have to try to navigate life on their own, getting tangled up in their mistakes. There are kids who wish they had a ‘normal’ life but what is normal?

My life isn’t normal. It’s probably the nearest to the way that God created it to be, but that is rare these days. I have a loving mother and father, sisters and brother. I don’t struggle financially. I don’t go searching for love. My room is crammed with clothes, books, CDs and presents from other people who care about me.

This is not normal.  If normal is:”conforming to a standard; usual, typical, or expected”, my life is not normal.

I often have bouts of guilt. I wonder why I am so blessed and happy, while so many around me suffer. Then I realise that if everyone was like that, there would be no one to help them. If everyone falls down the mud-hole, there has to be at least one person standing up the top, lowering down the rope to help them back up. If everyone was in darkness, there would be no light.

Those of us, who are blessed enough to know Jesus’ love and peace are called to be the light of the world (Matthew 5:14).

So if you feel discouraged because so many around you are flailing through life, don’t be downhearted. Take the opportunity to praise God for sparing you that pain. Don’t gloat. It is by God’s grace that we have been saved. Use your position to help others. With great gifts, comes great responsibility.

The beautiful thing about this is that through us, others will also be brought into the light of Jesus. If we are doing our job properly, lighting the way, God can use us to rescue others. We are instruments of God’s love.

Now THAT is exciting, not only for us, but also for those who are awaiting our help.

“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God.  For just as we share abundantly in the sufferings of Christ, so also our comfort abounds through Christ.”

-2 Corinthians 1:3-5

 

 

Care For A Drink?

“To travel through the desert with others, to suffer thirst, to find a spring, to drink of it, and not to tell the others, that they may be spared, is exactly the same as enjoying Christ and not telling others about him.”

-Corrie Ten Boom

How many of us are guilty of not telling others about Jesus? We know what an absolute treasure he is and have experienced his life changing love and yet we keep his name quiet. We don’t want to cause a fuss. We don’t want to make people uncomfortable. This is essentially the same as depriving them of water in the desert when you know where they can find a bottomless well nearby.

In the Bible, we learn about the living water that Christ offers:

“Jesus, tired as he was from the journey, sat down by the well. It was about noon. When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, “Will you give me a drink?” (His disciples had gone into the town to buy food.) The Samaritan woman said to him, “You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?” (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.) Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.”“Sir,” the woman said, “you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his livestock?”

 Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again,  but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”

(John 4:6-14)

Whatever desert you are experiencing, accept the gift that Christ offers and then, don’t keep it for yourself, share his love with others too!

(YOU ARE) The Light Of The World!

“Is Jesus your guest only in a little attic room? Then nobody knows He is there. His strength to protect you in the other rooms is lost. Throw open all the doors!”

-Corrie Ten Boom

My desire is to proclaim Christ. To make Him known. To share his love with everyone that I can.  It might mean striking up conversation with the person waiting next to you at the bus stop. It could be as simple as taking an interest in the life of the person sitting next to you on the bus. It might mean saying a simple ‘thank you’ to the bus driver as you get off the bus. Everywhere we go; there is an opportunity to shine God’s light. To take a step and put ourselves out there and be the odd one out. People will notice the difference.

In loving others as representatives of Christ, we ought to be proud advocates of his love.

I absolutely love the verse in Matthew 5 where we are told that we are the light of the world. Here, Jesus didn’t say, ‘I am the light of the world’, he said, “YOU”. You, my friend are called to shine God’s light. Not to keep his light in your room, but to shine it bright into the darkness. I love that we are told that we are not to keep God a secret. We are not allowed to hide his light. Our love for God should be totally public. We ought to be so on fire that we cannot hide it. 

Today I had my very first day of University. I was scared. There are so many people bigger than me, older than me, smarter than me, wiser than me and braver than me.  At first I felt afraid.  The Atheists unite and debate their views, the Queers display their opinions visually, the Muslims wear their headdress and here I was: plain, little me. I know I have a light but I wondered how much light I could really shine. I felt afraid that my flame might be smothered. That intellectuals would outsmart me. I felt afraid that I would not have all the answers. I felt afraid of facing true opposition and feeling incredibly out numbered. I was dreading my first day of Uni.

At this point I was reminded that ‘If our God is for us, then who can be against us?” (Romans 8:31). We have an almighty God on my side! We need not be afraid, but wholly trust in Jesus’ name. Through God, we are more than conquerors.

Remembering God’s truths gave me the courage to stand up and be brave. To reach out to others and to shine his light. I stood out. My confidence outweighed that of any other. It wasn’t me. It was Christ shining his light through me, into the darkness.

God wants to use us. He has chosen us. He has blessed us and loved us, not so that we might secretly treasure it but so that we might share it with others. As we share his love, we feel it more intensely ourselves.

So I encourage you to be brave. Be bold. Read the word and do what it says. Make your life a light that reflects God to those in the darkness around you. You won’t be able to hold back the smile on your face or the spring in your step!

“Here’s another way to put it: You’re here to be light, bringing out the God-colours in the world. God is not a secret to be kept. We’re going public with this, as public as a city on a hill. If I make you light-bearers, you don’t think I’m going to hide you under a bucket, do you? I’m putting you on a light stand. Now that I’ve put you there on a hilltop, on a light stand—shine! Keep open house; be generous with your lives. By opening up to others, you’ll prompt people to open up with God, this generous Father in heaven.”

-Matthew 5:14-16 (The MSG)