GO and SHINE

Have you ever walked down a dark road at night as cars whiz by shining their lights straight in your eyes? Or maybe you have driven down a deserted un-lit road past sunset, and been blinded by the lights of on-coming traffic?

It hurts doesn’t it? It literally hurts your eyes...but you can’t seem to look away from the on-coming lights as much as you may try. You also can’t see anything else. Funny how that works, huh? Looking straight at a light in the darkness, and you can’t see anything around you or even straight in front of you but the blinding light and its source. You can’t even see where you are walking, but yet, you continue to walk forward. 

I think there is a deeper lesson here. 

Our world is covered in darkness, and not only at night. There are deeds, there are words, there are world views that root themselves so deeply in the darkness of this world. They root themselves so deeply apart from God. God is LIGHT, so anything apart from Him is in darkness. There is so much, too much darkness in this world. 

Jesus tells His disciples in the much quoted great commission to “GO and make disciples of all nations.” Jesus tells to GO. Where? To all the nations. To all the darkness. And do what? MAKE DISCIPLES. Shine His LIGHT. Jesus also tells His disciples in Matt 5:14-16 “You are the LIGHT of the world...Let your LIGHT shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works and glorify your Father who is in heaven.” He also says, “Do not fear, for I WILL be with you, even unto the end of the ages.”

Jesus commissions us, He empowers us with His presence, with the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, to GO into the darkness, and SHINE light. And while we GO, we are never alone, no matter how we may feel. 

But, much like walking or driving at night towards oncoming traffic with blinding lights, it can be difficult, it can hurt, it can be scary, especially when you can’t quite see where you are going. That’s ok. Remember what is so bright that it is blinding you...the LIGHTs ahead. Jesus is the source of all LIGHT, keep your focus on HIM, the source of the LIGHT.

May that fill your vision, consume your thoughts in such a way that fear is cast out. Yeah, you may trip for a second, get a couple of bruises along the way, and never really know where you are going, but keep walking towards the darkness without fear and know that He is near, He is with you, He will never leave. GO and confront the darkness, GO and SHINE your light, GO and make disciples. 

GOing doesn’t necessarily mean moving to the African Bush, it doesn’t necessarily mean confronting an atheist or abuser, is doesn’t necessarily mean becoming a curbside prophet or preacher. Darkness is all around us. GOing means not idly sitting by as darkness reigns. It means fighting for the truth of Christ, the freedom of Christ in all things around you, all people around. It means standing for HIM, working to build HIS kingdom here and now. 

What does GOing into the darkness and SHINING mean for you, where you are at right now?

Just remember, the victory is already HIS, we have already won. 

Revelation 12:11 “And they overcame him (the devil, darkness) because of the blood of the Lamb and because of the word of their testimony, and they did not love their life even when faced with death.”

Walk in the righteousness HE has clothed you with today, the blood of the Lamb. Don’t shy away from telling what HE has done for you, HIS redemptive work in you, the word of your testimony. And have not fear, perfect love drives out fear, and perfect LOVE is with you, always, in Christ Jesus; so don’t fear death, don’t fear persecution, overcome.

Hope in Brokenness

This world is so broken. I currently find myself surrounded by malnourished children, homeless boys that have run to living on the streets to avoid worse conditions at home; I am surrounded by extreme poverty, evidence of abuse (physical, emotional and from substance use), homelessness, and chaos. I am surrounded by brokenness. 

And yet, I am also surrounded by hope. A hope not found because myself or because of other people; but a hope found in this world because of God alone. God who lives, and is continually restoring and redeeming broken things, people and circumstances.

David said it best in Psalm 27:13-14:

“I would have despaired unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living. Wait for the LORD; be strong and let your heart take courage; yes, wait for the LORD.”

I would without a doubt despair if I didn’t see the tangible evidence of our living God working all around me. Yes, the tangible evidence of our living GOD restoring broken things, restoring this broken world through the power of the Holy Spirit indwelling each of His saints. God has a way of birthing HOPE out of BROKENNESS. 

He makes beauty come forth out of broken people, broken circumstances, and broken places. He started this beauty-making work, this redemptive work, the moment Adam and Eve took that first bite. Since then, He has been restoring His broken people, and the broken circumstances that have resulted from our brokenness. Jesus, our HOPE, was birthed out of all this brokenness, to bring HOPE, and to bring victory. Praise God that we are not left alone in the brokenness, rather, He has made a path to HOPE through the brokenness. 

Read Matthew Chapter 1, the genealogy of Jesus. Scan through the list of names. Warning: you'll see evidence of a lot of brokenness. Do you see the name of Rahab, the prostitute? How about David and Bathsheba and their son Solomon born out of an extra-marital affair and amidst lies and deception? Even Judah, the man who sold his own brother Joseph into slavery to the Egyptians (in fact, it was even his idea), and slept with his daughter-in-law, who gave birth to yet another name on that list in Matthew Chapter 1, Perez. God’s own Son, the perfect man, was born out of all this brokenness. 

That fills me with HOPE. When I look around me, I see a lot of brokenness. I feel a lot of brokenness. Abuse, depression, divorce, war, pain, preventable deaths and diseases, malnutrition, poverty, homelessness, terrorism, bullying, fear. But also, when I look around, I see a lot of beauty. Hope, love, friendships, community, laughter, a struggling teacher opening her home for a homeless student, a formerly abused boy offering unconditional love to a stranger living on the streets, a hungry child sharing what little food she has with classmates, a generation rising up out of my friends to selflessly serve and love the communities wherever they find themselves, at home or away. 

God loves His broken people despite our brokenness and our broken world. Our broken circumstances break God’s heart more that we could potentially ever know. He sees the starving single mom and weeps, the boy being abused and moans, the teenager mocked and wresting with depression and cries out. He sees all these things, and He doesn't just sit passively by, He reacts. He reacts to this brokenness by bringing HOPE. God is continually working through the brokenness, He is using His saints, His Holy Spirit-empowered and led saints to make all things new, to do His will and bring His kingdom to earth as it is in heaven. He calls us to fight this brokenness, to love our neighbors as ourselves, and not just sit by, He calls us to react with the power of the Holy Spirit.

If you look around you and only see brokenness, hurt and pain, take heart, Christ has overcome the pains and death of this world, and is alive even now, He is alive in you and He is alive in me.  

There is darkness and pain in this world, but we don’t have to just stand by and watch them continue on. We have the power to fight back, the power to proclaim HIS victory in every broken person, circumstance, and place.

Just say YES to Him today, YES to His Holy Spirit, YES to making broken things around you beautiful and restored, YES for His kingdom coming and His will being done on earth as it is in heaven through you. Just say YES. Say no to self and selfish ambition, and say YES to HOPE, YES to HIM.

“But whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ. More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ, and may be found in HIM.” Phil 3:7-9a

Trust me, it is totally worth it. There is HOPE in brokenness.