It’s January, and I have no desire to put away my Christmas decorations. However, my tree seems to have different ideas. The strands of lights on this 5-year-old, pre-lit beauty have been blowing one by one (beginning on Christmas Eve!) like candles on a birthday cake. There’s only one working set left—the set I bought on the day I pieced together the tree in early December. It looks ridiculous.
Yet, every morning when I get up and every afternoon when I return from work, I turn on the remaining lights. From the side, it doesn’t look terrible. It’s still festive and beautiful and fills me with joy. I love my tree, despite its failure to shine properly. Other features add to its radiance—the sparkle, color, and precious ornaments—such that I can forgive this rebellion to a point.
However, I will not allow it to stay this way forever. It clearly needs my assistance. Before I put it up next year, I will buy new lights and restore its former glory. It will be whole again, lighting up the room with its tiny white orbs, making the ornaments sparkle, and masking some of the holes between the branches. I won’t love my tree more than I do now, but I’ll be happy when it is lit up again.
There’s something special about light, isn’t there? The first thing God created, light is encapsulated in the sun with its spectacular sunrises and sunsets as well as the stars and the moon in its various phases. We also enjoy the manmade lights too, especially in the form of fireworks or Christmas decorations.
Yet, light can be unkind too. Looking in a mirror in bright lighting can be scary. Every unplucked eyebrow hair and clogged pore cry out to be noticed. No one should ever have to see their flaws that way.
One morning this week, after a few days of cloudy skies, the sun made a dazzling appearance, and I welcomed its bright warmth as it beamed through my windows. That is until I noticed what it did to my countertops! I thought my kitchen was clean. Under the brilliant spotlight of the sun’s glare, the truth was revealed. There were crumbs, dust—so much dust, and short hairs (ew!) all over my countertop! And it’s wiped down every evening after dinner!
Yes, light can be mean. Yet, it’s not the light’s fault. The dirt was there all along. It just required a spotlight to reveal it. I can run and get a cloth and clean up that mess, or ignore it and wait until the sun finds a more compassionate spot in the sky. Once its brilliance has passed on, no one will see that grime.
Sometimes, like my tree, we allow things into our lives that make the lights go out. Our love for God doesn’t shine as brightly anymore. Since our Father is loving and full of grace, He sees our inner beauty. He still loves us. But He desires that we perform as He intended, shining for the world to see our Jesus-glow, causing others to want what we have—a personal relationship with Him.
As an inanimate object, my tree can’t ask for my help. I can impose my power as its human owner and take control. It’s getting new lights whether it wants them or not. But, while God wants us to shine for Him, He won’t impose on us in the same way. He has given us our own will. He wants us to ask Him for help. If we repent and ask for His forgiveness, He will restore us to the beautiful masterpiece we were created to be. We can shine in wholeness once again.
Our hearts, like my countertop, have hidden dirt in them. But God’s brilliance reveals all those crumbs and dust particles. 1 John 1:5 says, “God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all.” When we stand next to Him, it’s hard to present that photoshopped, filtered image of ourselves we like to display.
What would God’s brilliance reveal in your life? Don’t let guilt move in to sit beside it. Instead, repent and pray with me.
Dear Father, You see the dark places inside of me that no one else can see. You are the only One who can clean up my life and get rid of the dirt blemishing Your creation.
Forgive me for the things I’ve done that make my lights go out. I want to shine for You. Cleanse my heart and make me whole again.
Make me worthy to stand in your spotlight and radiate your light.
I love you.
Amen.
David prayed a similar prayer in Psalm 139:23. I like the way The Passion Translation (TPT) words it:
“God, I invite your searching gaze into my heart. Examine me through and through. Find out everything that may be hidden within me. Put me to the test and sift through all my anxious cares.“
Sometimes light brings us embarrassment (revealing our crumbs!), but sometimes it brings peace (lights on the tree in the darkness of early morning), especially when we invite the Light of the World into our hearts. Allow this verse about light to comfort you this week:
Your presence is everywhere, bringing light into my night. (Psalm 139:11 TPT)
Are you ready to shine, Child of God? Let there be light!
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