You
are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden.
- Matthew 5:14 (NKJV)
We
all have a there - that place in our story we can point back to and say, that
changed me.
Sometimes there is an actual place, sometimes it's a season. Sometimes it's a hospital room, a job we lost, a relationship that changed, a decision we didn't want to make, a prayer that seemed unanswered, or a road we never expected to travel. Sometimes there is simply the moment when life became divided into before and after.
This week, we've talked about a lot of different places. There was a café table where something as simple as Smarties and high-fives became a fifteen-year legacy of kindness.
There was a boat in a storm, headed for the other side, there were frightened disciples wondering if Jesus even heard them. There were fears, doubts and lies that needed to be called by their real names. There was a shoreline most people probably would have avoided and a man everyone else had given up on.
And there was a family in Iowa packing up everything they knew and moving to Arkansas without any idea what God had waiting for them there.
Different stories, different places, different "theres".
But God was present in every one of them.
I've lived long enough now to have quite a collection of "theres" of my own. There are places I never would have chosen to go and seasons I certainly wouldn't volunteer to repeat. There have been moments when I've been afraid, times when plans fell apart, when I couldn't understand why God was allowing something to happen. Times when the only prayer I could manage was some version of, God, are You there?
And looking back, I can answer that question differently now.
Yes. He was there. He was there when I understood what He was doing, and He was there when I didn't.
He was there in the prayers that were answered the way I hoped, and He was there when the answer looked nothing like what I wanted.
He was there when the road was easy and He was there when getting to the other side meant going straight through a storm.
He heard me there.
He met me there.
And He changed me there.
Maybe that's why Jesus' words in Matthew 5:14 matter so much: “You are the light of the world.”
Light isn't particularly noticeable when everything around it is already bright, we notice light when things get dark.
And maybe some of the places where we once wondered where God was are the very places He was preparing us to carry His light.
Think about the man Jesus freed in Mark chapter 5. Yesterday we talked about how he wanted to leave with Jesus, but Jesus told him to stay and tell people what the Lord had done for him. His "there" became part of his testimony.
So did mine.
And so can yours.
Maybe you've walked through grief, and now you recognize it in someone else's eyes.
Maybe you've struggled financially, and now you understand the fear someone else is carrying.
Maybe you've battled insecurity, addiction, loneliness, illness, disappointment or fear.
Maybe you've had to start over.
Maybe you've watched a plan you were certain about completely fall apart.
Maybe you've found yourself somewhere you never intended to be.
And maybe you wondered if God heard you there.
He did.
But what if He didn't bring you through your there simply so you could put it behind you?
What if somebody else needs the light you learned to carry in that darkness?
What if the encouragement you can offer today comes from the comfort God gave you yesterday?
What if the person standing in front of you needs to hear, I've been there. Let me tell you what God did.
We don't have to have all the answers.
We don't have to have a perfect testimony tied up with a beautiful little bow.
We simply have to be willing to let God use our story.
Because our stories aren't supposed to stop with us.
The kindness we receive can become kindness we give away.
The storms we survive can teach us how to trust.
The fears we name can remind us Who is greater.
And the places God brings us through can become the places from which we tell somebody else what He has done.
Maybe that's what being a light looks like. Not standing above someone and shouting directions, but standing beside them and saying, I know this place. I've had a “there,” too. And Jesus met me there.
So as this week comes to a close, I have one question:
Where is your there?
The place where you wondered whether God heard you. The season when you were afraid. The thing you thought might break you. The place you never expected to find yourself. Don't be ashamed of your there. Don't assume God wasted it. And don't hide the light He gave you while you were walking through it.
Wherever your “there” is, He heard you there. He met you there. And He can use what happened there to shine His light through you here.
#dailybreadbykitty
Daily Inspiration from the Bible
- Matthew 5:14 (NKJV)
Sometimes there is an actual place, sometimes it's a season. Sometimes it's a hospital room, a job we lost, a relationship that changed, a decision we didn't want to make, a prayer that seemed unanswered, or a road we never expected to travel. Sometimes there is simply the moment when life became divided into before and after.
This week, we've talked about a lot of different places. There was a café table where something as simple as Smarties and high-fives became a fifteen-year legacy of kindness.
There was a boat in a storm, headed for the other side, there were frightened disciples wondering if Jesus even heard them. There were fears, doubts and lies that needed to be called by their real names. There was a shoreline most people probably would have avoided and a man everyone else had given up on.
And there was a family in Iowa packing up everything they knew and moving to Arkansas without any idea what God had waiting for them there.
Different stories, different places, different "theres".
But God was present in every one of them.
I've lived long enough now to have quite a collection of "theres" of my own. There are places I never would have chosen to go and seasons I certainly wouldn't volunteer to repeat. There have been moments when I've been afraid, times when plans fell apart, when I couldn't understand why God was allowing something to happen. Times when the only prayer I could manage was some version of, God, are You there?
And looking back, I can answer that question differently now.
Yes. He was there. He was there when I understood what He was doing, and He was there when I didn't.
He was there in the prayers that were answered the way I hoped, and He was there when the answer looked nothing like what I wanted.
He was there when the road was easy and He was there when getting to the other side meant going straight through a storm.
He heard me there.
He met me there.
And He changed me there.
Maybe that's why Jesus' words in Matthew 5:14 matter so much: “You are the light of the world.”
Light isn't particularly noticeable when everything around it is already bright, we notice light when things get dark.
And maybe some of the places where we once wondered where God was are the very places He was preparing us to carry His light.
Think about the man Jesus freed in Mark chapter 5. Yesterday we talked about how he wanted to leave with Jesus, but Jesus told him to stay and tell people what the Lord had done for him. His "there" became part of his testimony.
So did mine.
And so can yours.
Maybe you've walked through grief, and now you recognize it in someone else's eyes.
Maybe you've struggled financially, and now you understand the fear someone else is carrying.
Maybe you've battled insecurity, addiction, loneliness, illness, disappointment or fear.
Maybe you've had to start over.
Maybe you've watched a plan you were certain about completely fall apart.
Maybe you've found yourself somewhere you never intended to be.
And maybe you wondered if God heard you there.
He did.
But what if He didn't bring you through your there simply so you could put it behind you?
What if somebody else needs the light you learned to carry in that darkness?
What if the encouragement you can offer today comes from the comfort God gave you yesterday?
What if the person standing in front of you needs to hear, I've been there. Let me tell you what God did.
We don't have to have all the answers.
We don't have to have a perfect testimony tied up with a beautiful little bow.
We simply have to be willing to let God use our story.
Because our stories aren't supposed to stop with us.
The kindness we receive can become kindness we give away.
The storms we survive can teach us how to trust.
The fears we name can remind us Who is greater.
And the places God brings us through can become the places from which we tell somebody else what He has done.
Maybe that's what being a light looks like. Not standing above someone and shouting directions, but standing beside them and saying, I know this place. I've had a “there,” too. And Jesus met me there.
So as this week comes to a close, I have one question:
Where is your there?
The place where you wondered whether God heard you. The season when you were afraid. The thing you thought might break you. The place you never expected to find yourself. Don't be ashamed of your there. Don't assume God wasted it. And don't hide the light He gave you while you were walking through it.
Wherever your “there” is, He heard you there. He met you there. And He can use what happened there to shine His light through you here.
Daily Inspiration from the Bible
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