Shine Your Light

Verse

Ephesians 5:8 – For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light.

Devotion

A couple of nights ago we had a wind storm blow through which woke me up. Before I could go back to sleep, the storm knocked out the power in our area. There was something about the utter darkness with the winds howling that made me feel completely alone, cut off from everyone and everything.

Darkness just envelopes us like a weighted blanket. One of our most important senses, seeing, is gone. We can’t see the obstacles all around us. It makes us want to just stay in one place and not move at all. Our focus becomes keeping ourselves and our family safe and just riding out the storm until, hopefully, the lights come back on.
Thinking back on this experience, it feels a lot like what we are going through right now. This COVID-19 darkness has enveloped us and we feel cut off from everyone due to the stay in place orders. We are just trying to keep ourselves safe and ride out this storm until things return to normal.

But as Christians, we have a hope that we can draw on. We have a light that dispels darkness. Jesus said, “I am the light of the world”. If we let His light shine into this dark time, we can see new opportunities. He can show us how we can rely on Him during difficult times for comfort and direction. His light will illuminate the obstacles so we don’t trip and fall. This comes from spending more time with him each day letting Him comfort us.

Then Jesus will go beyond lighting our path to living in us and making us light! In Ephesians, Paul says “you were once darkness, but now you are light. Live as children of light”. We know that everyone is feeling cut off and separated. We can see this and we can bring light to others in need like Jesus does to us. And amazingly, by bringing light to others, we also dispel the darkness in our own lives. You will feel closer to God and to those around you.

So my encouragement today is to receive the light that Jesus has for you. Then allow that light to shine out to one other person today. A phone call, a quick text, or a handwritten note could really brighten someone’s day. Let’s all be CityLight today and do what we can to dispel the darkness in us and in others and be the light of the world.