Lights Shine Bright Everywhere We Go

Thanks, Toby Mac, for your great song: “Everywhere we go. Lights shine bright. Lights shine bright, everywhere we go.” It must be God's message to us because this is my second day in a row to emphasize how important it is to let our lights shine.

I remember that timeless Sunday School song that went: "This little light of mine...I'm gonna let it shine! Hide it under a bushel – NO! I’m gonna let it shine! All over the neighborhood – I’m gonna let it shine! Won’t let Satan blow it out – I’m gonna let it shine." It doesn’t take a news anchor to know that so many people in our world are living in darkness. That’s why letting our lights shine is so important. You and I might just be the LIGHTS that cause the darkness to flee -- not so much by what we say....but what we do in spite of our own circumstances. They're watching how we demonstrate God's love, peace and joy -- right in the middle of some of our darkest times.

The enemy uses daily circumstances and situations to try to douse our "light”. It may be a negative comment made to us or about us. It may be about all that TV and social media rancor. Or it is someone's bad mood or a surprising situation like a flat tire or a computer crashing (like mine on Friday) or a negative medical report or any other bad news coming our way. The "stuff of life" wields its water hose that is filled with doubt, worry, and negativity at us. What may have started out as a fun water shower from a friendly water hose that hits our flame, but it soon becomes a super water blast that douses out our fire of energy, joy and enthusiasm. With all the negativity that surrounds us, it's easy for our light to become nothing more than a little flicker.

The good news is, we have a choice to wring ourselves out from the onslaught of negativity that is coming our way. It takes a conscious effort to keep our "little lights" blazing! St. Paul reminds us, "You were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light." (Ephesians 5:8). That's what the darkness needs. It needs lights to penetrate it. In spite of our circumstances and the darkness around us, it needs lights that conquer every opposing force to continue shining God's light. We must keep in mind -- the more we hang out with THE LIGHT, the brighter our lights will shine.

People will be thinking "How can they be so peaceful, full of joy and hope when I know they're going through the stuff of life just like me?" Before long, they'll get it. They'll know it. And they'll want it, too! "In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father Who is in heaven." Matthew 5:16.

It’s Time to Come Out of the Closet

I loved the movie, “The War Room”, about a woman’s “prayer closet”. That’s where she went to prayerfully “battle for the souls of her family members”. And, while our prayer closets are certainly worthwhile for pleading our cases to God, it’s time we come out of our prayer closets long enough to go into the world to boldly declare WHAT and WHO we stand for as Christians.

Honestly, too many of us keep our Christianity in a closet. We heed the old admonishment to not discuss religion or politics. But, really? The two major discussion points for letting our lights shine are not be discussed? How can our voices be stifled when the voices of others who oppose God’s side are so loud?

I once worked for a technology company going through its beta-testing period. Giving our opinions about the systems were important for the engineers. I didn't want to “rock the boat”. I “hoped” it would all just work itself out and get better. Before long, I broke my silence after I heard someone say: “The squeaky wheel gets the grease.” That idiom means that the loudest (or most noticeable) people (or problems) are the ones to get the most attention. I hear those loud, noisy, angry, bitter, cranky, mocking-God-and-His-people voices in our world today; voices that oppose the 10 Commandments, God’s Word, morality, and God, Himself. Those people are getting so much attention these days because they are boisterous and loud. Christianity remains the largest religious group in the world at nearly a third (31%), yet we restrain our voices.

Jesus didn’t call us to be closet disciples. He gave us some stern warnings about denying Him. Matthew 10:33 says: “but whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven.” Keeping our faith to ourselves isn’t the “light” that Jesus said we should be. He told us to go into all the world with Him. Our faith was made to be made public because we are called to evangelize the world and we cannot do that silently.
There are controversial groups who have “come out of the closet” and their voices are VERY, VERY loud. It’s time for us to stop hiding in our closets and declare Whose side we are on.

For years I chose to downplay my religious faith. But, as you can see from my daily posts about my “active” faith lifestyle and witness, I am out loud and proud to be a Christian. I look at it this way. If I had the cure for cancer and hid it in my “closet,” what kind of humanitarian would I be? I have the cure for depression, loneliness, anger, sorrow, discouragement, and the lack of joy, love, hope, and peace. I can’t hide it. That’s why I share it every day. I love my friends too much to stay silent. I am not a loud, militant Christian who tells everybody who’s not thinking the way I do that they’re going to hell. I’m a passionate Christian who speaks love boldly and loudly and that "true" love comes only with a faith and belief in God and His Word.

With this blog today, I’m proposing that we bravely use our “outside voices”. Election time is around the corner and we have the opportunity to make our voices heard. One of the greatest ways to be bold and loud as followers of Christ is to believe that politics really does matter. We better believe that these upcoming elections are important. We better believe that our vote makes a difference. I’m not saying that voting takes the place of preaching the gospel or feeding the poor or mentoring our children or having a personal relationship with God. Not a chance. But I am saying that voting for the principles in God’s Word will make a massive difference for our nation. "Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord." Psalm 33:12