Learning to Be the Light

January 25, 2016

 

 

Yesterday morning I witnessed a beautiful, glorious sight in the western sky as the sun started its ascent in the east. As I was walking to warm up the truck before I came to prepare for Sunday worship I looked up and behold I saw the bright lit full moon in the background of a silhouetted tree branch sky. It took my breath away and I thanked God for the light in the darkness of my life. Unfortunately, as long as we have breath in this life we will have darkness in this life. We usually call it stress, weakness, dependency, personal problems, strife, trouble, depression, anger, anxiety, sickness, brokenness, sadness, and even death. Darkness could be argued is anything that is portrayed as negative or evil in this life. However I am thankful there is Light in the midst of darkness. I am joyful God gives me reason to Hope in a dark world. I am grateful there is Light.

What Light is to darkness, Joy is to sadness. The light I saw yesterday morning didn’t cancel the dark that surrounded me but it gave me pause to be grateful for Light, gave me pause to Hope, gave me pause to be joyful,  gave me pause to pray for the Light of Christ that’s a beacon in my life and for me to be a beacon of light in others’ lives. Like the boat in dark water, even in the darkest night, the light house with it’s strobe light will guide and lead us in the right direction toward home “safe and secure from all alarm”. That Light of Jesus Christ might give us pause from a fleeting perspective but the great news is we can rely on it’s constancy forever.

So like that moonlight I was drawn to, God calls us to be the Light of Christ in the lives with whom we connect, especially in the midst of darkness. We can be beacons of Joy and Light in each other’s lives and encourage each other to take our first and next steps, no matter what or how big our steps are in our faith journey, no matter what the negative circumstances.

As I sang I’m Learning to be the Light couple weeks ago, I invite you to join me and others to learn to be the Light. Let’s Shine the Light Bright!

Rick Peelle

DIrector of Music and Worship Arts