Beacon of Light

Matthew 5:14-16 TPT
“Your lives light up the world. Let others see your light from a distance, for how can you hide a city that stands on a hilltop? And who would light a lamp and then hide it in an obscure place? Instead, it’s placed where everyone in the house can benefit from its light.  So don’t hide your light! Let it shine brightly before others, so that the commendable things you do will shine as light upon them, and then they will give their praise to your Father in heaven.”

There is something about light.  Even the smallest flicker can push back the darkest spaces.  The darker it is, the more clearly you can see the smallest of lights.  This has been a big part of the conversations that I have been having over the past few months.  Darkness and isolation are a few of the best laid plans of the enemy.  He seeks to deceive and distract, he seeks to kill all that is good and leave us feeling forgotten and rejected.  But God gave us a seed of hope.  God gave us His son to light up the places inside of us.  God made us a beacon of light, HIS light to share with those still lost in the darkness.  

I received a message last night that truly pierced deep into my heart.  A message from a relationship forged a lifetime ago.  One of the friends turned family from my time in the service.  The message began letting me know that my name had come up on a Zoom call with a group of his old Navy buddies....in "adoration." It was brought up by people I did not directly influence, but that had witnessed my influence over himself and a few others.  My response was a bit shock and a larger amount humility. His response to that was that he would never forget me as his lighthouse.  The conversation continued but throughout the rest of the night, my mind kept going back to that statement.  Nearly twenty five years has past and this person still remembers me as a lighthouse.  

The reality is that I never set out to be a lighthouse.  I found a group of boys that needed someone to push them to be better.  The other truth is, I needed people to need me.  My identity was in what I did for people in those days.  I needed people to take care of.  So, at the age of 18 I became known as "Mom" to a group of misfit boy/sailors who were all older than me.  It is a bit comical to look back over, but I took my duties seriously, including a night run to Radford, VA and back...just in time.

We may not always be aware of how far our light may go, but we need to be aware of the fact that it is there.  We need to be living with it prioritized.  The days are dark right now, but we have the light of the world living inside of us.  What happens when we begin to purposefully pour that light into all of the spaces we inhabit?  What happens when we look for darkness to take our light into?  Light is not pushed out by darkness, instead it takes over the darkness, it pushes it out.  Light flowing from us, and the love that should be accompanied with that light is what truly overcomes the darkness we are witnessing.  

My prayer is that you look for the inner light and find new ways to bring it into all of the spaces that walk into.  May we all find ourselves remembered as a lighthouse for those trying to find their way through the dark storms of life.