Last night my husband and I were laying in bed watching the Passion 2012 conference online. If you have never heard the music or speakers from the conferences, you are missing out! Last night, they had a guest speaker on that I have heard of before, but had never actually heard her speak. Christine Caine was the speaker and she said something that really got me thinking. I suddenly had an "aha" moment. She told a story of how her daughter had really wanted a Barbie flash light, so she took her to Wal-Mart to get one. While at the register, her daughter turned on the flashlight but the light couldn't be seen clearly because of all the other lights already shining in Wal-Mart. She then tugged on her mommy and said "Mommy, can we please go find some darkness now?" Right then, I got it!
We are suppose to be "the light of the world, a city on a hill" (Matthew 5:14), but are we really being lights to the world? We are called to go into the dark places and be lights, for in the darkness is only where the light can shine through and be seen. I feel that most of us are like the flashlight in WalMart...we are shining, but no one can see us because everyone else around us is shining too. We have become so comfortable and complacent in our church circles and groups of Christian friends, that we have created a "bubble", surrounding ourselves with like-minded people that our lights are dim, or even nonexistent, to the rest of the world around us. I am in no way saying we shouldn't have like-minded people around us, but what I am saying is that we have got to get out of our bubble of friends, family members, places that feel safe and comfortable if we ever want to reach a dying world, help set captives free, and save those who are lost.
Andrew Wommack often says that "we are all called to be salt to the earth; the only problem is nobody wants to get out of the salt shaker!" Once again going back to the fact that we have not only got be willing, but we have to actually act upon what God is calling us to do, and just get out there! Millions of people are lost, dying, broken, poor in spirit, addicted, and wasting away in every sense of the word, and to be quite honest, most of us don't even care because we are too comfortable with where we are, what we have, we don't want to be inconvenienced, and we think it should be someone else's job to help them. I honestly don't understand why we fight so hard to stay where we are with all our "stuff," remaining stagnant, having no real power, authority or victory in our own lives, when we would find so much more fulfillment in meeting the needs of and serving others!
Matthew 6: 19-20 says Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal, But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal."
All the "stuff" we try to accumulate, impress ourselves or other people with are eventually either going to be thrown away, given away later, or will simply rot because of the natural process of this earth. Why do we feel the need to accumulate and hold on to things that we can't take with us when we leave this earth, and put off the very one's that are literally rotting away inside, who may never make it to eternity with God? Are people's lives really not as important to us as our "stuff"? That's essentially what we are saying when we refuse to be the light in the dark places, and when we refuse to reach out to a lost and dying world. If we don't go into the darkness, and we aren't being lights to them, who will? You may be the only light someone in this world may ever see! I don't want to live with a guilty conscience, knowing there was so much more I could've done with my life and time here on this earth, and that I just let it all waste away, having no real meaning or value, and that there were dying people all around me and I was too selfish and stubborn to do anything about it. We all want to hear the Lord say to us "Well done my good and faithful servant," but what will we have done with what we were given on this earth to actually deserve to hear those words? Some words to think about....
This blog was created to challenge our way of thinking, the way we perceive things, and to ultimately point us towards God. In reading my blog, I challenge you to step outside of your normal way of thinking, expect to see the goodnes of God, to possibly see things in a new light, and to not be limited to our own perceptions.
