"John himself
was not the light; he was only a witness to the light." John 1:8
I thrive in
spiritual sunlight where the rule of justice and mercy prevail, bribery is
dealt with, honesty is the foundation on which my nation prospers, and where
there is a respect for human rights and the equality of all. Yes, my country is
flooded with spiritual sunlight. There is no lone flickering candle burning
here but rather floodlights like one sees at a stadium in the evenings. I have
lived in places where just candles are burning. There is a stark difference.
The longer I am engaged in this ministry the more I
have come to treasure spiritual sunlight. Spiritual darkness is encountered
frequently. The things I hear are shocking and grievous. There are lies,
secrets, conspiracies, two faces, deceptions, and schemes. What am I
supposed to do about all those kinds of things? They can loom pretty
overwhelming. God has not given me a ministry of condemnation and judging.
Kiran gave me a
birthday card which said, “Thinking of you on your birthday. Only one more
year, but so many moments of light you've added to this world. Keep on shining.” I wondered if she had any idea what those
words meant. The remedy to get rid of the darkness is not to curse the darkness
but to light a candle….to shine. There are times when I feel like cursing the
darkness but what good is that? I don’t accomplish anything doing that. The
problem is we can easily land up cursing the people living in the darkness; not
just the darkness itself. In earlier
years my energies were focused on the darkness; to fight it, correct it,
condemn it, pray against it, etc. My focus was more on the darkness than giving witness to the light. I began to sound more like a fighter than a light-shiner. Eventually all that fighting wore me out until
I realized it is more beneficial to be a witness to the
light than to fight the
darkness. A paradigm shift was made in my praying and ministry.
It has been interesting to observe that the more I
walk in spiritual sunlight and give witness to the light something happens. I
wish I could say that most of the time my friends are drawn to the light but
that is not usually the norm. They often retreat the more the light shines.
Sometimes I never hear from them again. We should not be surprised. Jesus said
in John 3: 20-21, “They hate the light because they want to sin in the
darkness. They stay away from the light
for fear their sins will be exposed and they will be punished. But those who do what is right come to the
light gladly, so everyone can see that they are doing what God wants.”
Being a witness to the light will either repel or draw
our friends to Christ. If neither happens then perhaps our witness to the light
is still too weak. When there is a reaction, one way or the other, then we know
our light is shining.
Dear heavenly Father, please make me a winsome witness
to the light. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
