I am really excited that
you could all break free from your day to day and come have fun with us
tonight. I have to admit that it
occurred to me that God must have a sense of humor to have the entire week be
rain-filled leading up to our luau/beach themed evening. We are talking about the SON shining and have
had mostly clouds this week. What I love
is I feel it drives home tonight’s theme.
Even in a dark starless night we can have the SON shining in our lives. On a cloudy, sunless day we can have the SON
shining bright.
In John 8:12 Jesus
tells us “I am the light of the world, whoever follows me will never walk in
darkness but have the light of life.” Wow.
We tend to think it’s when the lights go out that we are consumed or
threatened by darkness but there are so many different kinds of dark. It can be the loneliness of feeling like no
one could understand what you’re going through, the uncertainty of divorce, the
pain of losing a loved one, the anxiety of having a child, or having that child
grow up and head out on their own.
Sometimes darkness can be the fear of the unknown, new beginnings, or a
big change caused by moving churches, cities or even countries. As Christians we have a promise to hold like
a candle in the darkness. If we follow
Jesus we will never truly walk in darkness.
We will always have the light of life.
Psalm 18:28 says
“You, Oh Lord, keep my lamp burning. My
God turns my darkness into light”.
Another awesome gift our God gives us.
Not only will He keep us in His light if we follow Him but the darkness
we have, that we bring with us,that we can struggle letting go of, He will turn
to light. Have you ever tried to hide a
shadow from the sun? Not possible. You see regardless of what we are going
through God is in control and working things out for us. We may not know the why, who, what, where
until we sit down and talk with Him in Heaven but we are not wandering
aimlessly through this life, unguided and alone. God is in control and any darkness that comes
our way we can rest in His promise that He is turning it into light. Just like the sun does to nighttime as it
rises in the morning, God will do to our darkness as we draw closer to Him.
Our final
verse for the evening is “The sun will no more be your light by day, nor will
the brightness of the moon shine on you, for the LORD will be your everlasting
light, and your God will be your glory.” Isaiah 60:19. This verse makes me think of solar
power. Only instead of s-o-l-a-r it
should be s-o-u-l-a-r. The sun gives our
homes light and our God gives our souls light.
One will help you make toast in the morning and not stub your toe when
you take that 1am potty break and the other will be there with you every single
step, breath and move you make. The
light of the Lord being so bright that when you are fully leaning and trusting
in Him you won’t notice the shadows because as you are facing and following the
Light of the World, focused on Him and His will, the shadows and darkness will
have no place to go but behind you. We
need only follow the simple instruction that were given to Lots wife, “Don’t
look back”.
So tonight
let’s focus on the SON shining in our lives.
We have games, hula dancing, food, fellowship and fun all the while
basking in God’s Light which for this evening could be as simple as the laughter
you’ve been missing or the friend you finally get to visit with. I encourage you to enjoy yourself, make a new
friend and eat something you normally wouldn’t let yourself. Calories do not count tonight.
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| A photo slideshow by Smilebox |
