Shine In The Dark

Proverbs 12:25

"Worry weighs a person down; An encouraging word cheers a person up." NLT

I really hate that so many people are struggling. It's hard to hear about the violence on the news. 

I hate driving down the street and seeing the people who must live in tents on the side of the road. 

It is troubling that drugs are addicting, and people are trapped looking for the next high.

When I hear about someone kidnapping and killing another person it angers and baffles me that they thought they had the right to interrupt someone's life in that way. 

My heart hurts for those who are mourning loved ones who have passed away. 

It seems like we have all walked into a big dark hole that has a swirling tornado of sickness, evil, and death flying at us. 

It really is a miracle to rise in the morning, healthy, fed, and sheltered and to return to bed at night safe. 

Some people can't even trust the very people they live with to keep them unharmed. 

What does a person do with all of this?

Hide in fear?

Live in denial?

Be angry or bitter? 

Walk in hopelessness?

It's all so much to deal with.

Sometimes I will feel scared, anxious, or depressed about things. 

Matthew 6:34 "Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble."

This is one of the hardest verses in the Bible for me because worry is such a present thing in my life.

However, the weariness or the heaviness I feel is lifted when I take time to see what He is doing instead of focusing on the terrible things happening. 

How do you see the good - standing at a freshly dug grave, sitting beside a hospital bed, reading the news, or driving down the street and seeing people struggle? 

Sometimes the position of life is the position of mourning. It is the position of grief. 

In Ecclesiastes Solomon tells us there is a season for everything. Even for death and mourning. 

What I have also found is there are those who come into our lives during those times to comfort us. 

Just a few days ago I was in line at Starbucks next to the homeless tents. A pickup truck was parked by the tents. The back of it had a bunch of coolers. A couple carried them over to the people living in the tents. I don't know what was in the coolers, but I could see by the reactions of the people the couple brought them some joy. 

Their actions reminded me of the Bible verse that says to let our light shine and not hide it. 

It also made me think of the flashlight I received from my husband for Christmas.  

My name is on it. 

When the flashlight is turned on it can have a narrow stream of light that focuses on a particular spot or it can have a wide circle of light that fills the room. 




That couple shined a narrow stream of light into a dark situation. They might not have been able to hit every homeless camp, and be a light that hits everyone, but their light shined into that situation. 

Things do seem overwhelming lately, and a person may not be able to deal with all of it, but there are ways to bring a focused stream of light into places in this murky world.

Matthew 5:14

"You are the light of the world. A city on a hill."


 

 

Comments

Sister said…
Very inspiring 👏 🙌 🙏
February 20, 2023 at 10:02 PM
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