Psalm 46:1-3: “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear though the earth gives way…” (ESV).
“Though the earth gives way”.. it seems that’s what’s happening all around us. I can honestly say that at this time in history I see the Bible playing out at warp speed. Prophecies are being fulfilled before our eyes. How blessed are we to see the things we’ve been taught our whole lives coming true every day? Wait… the Bible says wars and rumors of war, religious deception, false teachers, pestilence, famine, disease, natural disasters, lawlessness, societal decay, family structure collapse, increased wickedness, men become lovers of money and perverse pleasures rather than God.
OK it might not exactly sound like we’re “blessed” to be witnessing everything the Bible said would happen. I mean, I won’t be throwing a “yay north Louisiana is really having earthquakes” party. I’m never thrilled when there’s a brand new killer bacterial infection that we have no idea where it came from or how to treat it. False prophets are leading people straight to Hell which makes me absolutely crazy. Starvation all by itself just hurts my heart. So yeah.. our world appears to be in shambles right now. It’s ugly. It’s dark. “Blessed” may actually seem like a little bit of a stretch.
But the bigger picture here isn’t the worldwide chaos itself. It’s how everything.. EVERYTHING we’re seeing is already written. There aren’t any real surprises for believers. We cheated.. we read the end of the Book. 2 Timothy 1:7 is one of my favorite verses. “For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.” In his letter, Paul writes to Timothy encouraging him to face persecution with courage and strength. Paul lifts Timothy up and basically tells him God’s got this. He tells him not to be ashamed of the gospel but to “fan into flame” and be even more bold. When world events are scary we are to lead with fearless faith.
As a Christian woman, a mom, a grandmother, a sister, a friend.. I want to make life better for anyone my life touches. I want to share my experiences and hopefully leave happy memories. If any mistake I made will save one minute of grief for someone I love, then it won’t have been in vain. If I can spend a day singing songs and making smiles that will be remembered for years and years, that’s something that can’t be replicated and is too valuable for a price tag. That’s what I want to do. More than ever before I feel an urgency to tell my testimony to anyone who’ll listen. That may seem simple minded given our current political climate but it’s really not. It’s kind of the opposite. The only thing I have to give is Jesus. Quite literally He’s all I have to share and I can’t wait to share Him.
In John 8:12 Jesus says “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness but have the light of life.” Light of the world. Never walk in darkness. Light of life. For someone who walked down every dark path, dirty road and back alley I could find, those words sounded almost unreal. I thought surely nothing so beautiful could ever be meant for me. Turns out, I’m the very one He was talking about. And so are you.
My personal story from darkness to light is my only hope for reaching someone like me. Somewhere there’s a soul that’s hurt or lonely or lost or completely broken. Somewhere there’s a woman with a terrified, confused little girl inside who’s never healed. I can say “hey, you’re not alone. I see you. I was you. You’re meant for so much more. Let me help you out of that shadow, sis. Let me show you how to shine again”.
If you haven’t, let me encourage you to just give Jesus a try. Or maybe you already have but sometimes you feel like you’re not as close to Him as you’d like to be. Or maybe.. maybe like I was, there’s a part of you that thinks you’re never going to be good enough for Christ.
My sis.. nothing could be farther from the truth. Jesus waits with arms wide open. No reservation required. No big preparation needed. No dreading some shame driven speech. That’s not the God we serve. I’m here to tell you that the walk from a life that’s cold and black to a life that’s shining in shadows, is a single step. Just one. Meet Jesus.
***Cliff notes in case you’re skimming because I’m pretty wordy *** I read the end of the book for us, sis. Jesus wins * darkness is the absence of light & Jesus is the light of the world * you shine like the sun, now shine for The Son * He’s so proud of you *
Colorful Chaos 