Light It Up

Picture by Caprice Miller

“I have come as a light to shine in this dark world, so that all who put their trust in me will no longer remain in the dark.” - John 12:46

I can only imagine what dark, secluded place Caprice found her cat, Sherman, in to take this picture.  You can barely make out his cute little cat features.  I suspect he may be like most cats in that you don’t get to choose when he plays with you or gets his attention.  Cats tend to have the attitude of “I’ll play with you when I want to.  Until then, leave me alone and let me do my own thing!”  They have their own ways of doing things and if you get in the way of that, watch out because there most likely will be scratching involved.  This “catittude” can be really aggravating sometimes.  There are times when we really need them to cooperate with us so we can help them or keep them safe.    Suppose they are sick or, heaven forbid, the house is burning down.  Assistance is a necessity in these cases so the phrase “help me help you” would apply.

If we were asked, it probably wouldn’t take long to think of people in our lives that reflect this personality.  We see the darkness they put themselves in, the pain they might be in and the inevitable outcome for them.  If we try to get close or help them consider a new direction in life, they bristle and run.  “Don’t tell me what to do!” or “Don’t judge me!” are common phrases we might here…the more polite ones, that is.  Our intention is to just reach out and help. But instead, we experience anger and rejection.  When we feel the bristle of that person’s anger our natural tendency is defense.  Confronting anger with anger is the logical way to go, right?  (Not really the best option)  But if we take a moment to breath, we can sense God’s whisper reminding us “I love that person just as much as I love you.  Be patient.  Love them where they are.”  It is so difficult in those moments to be still and let God work.  Too many times we mistakenly think that if we just keep pushing it will sink in.  But what if they don’t even know they’re in the dark?  They can’t see what we do because they have become accustomed to the dark.  Like the cat, you may be able to pull that person out of the comfortable, dark corner they have secluded themselves in, but the will still be angry and scratching at you.  And when you let go for a moment, they will run back to the dark corner.

So what do we do?  If we’re honest, we might just want to wash our hands of them and let them stay where they are.  But here comes that whisper again, “I love that person just as much as I love you.  Be patient.  Love them where they are.”  We can’t do that on our own though, but only through Christ working through us.  We allow Him to lower our own defenses so that we can build a relationship…then we wait.   We are there to be a light others can see from those dark corners.  Little by little we are allowed to get closer.  Little by little the light that shines in us casts light in that dark corner of someone’s life.  The opportunity will come when this person will ask about the light they see in us.  Then we can help them understand that we have all been in a dark corner at some time and some corners have seemed darker than others.  We can share with them about how Jesus came to bring us light and rescue us from the dark.  And we can encourage them by letting them know that NO corner is too dark for His light to overcome. 

Be a light for others today who don’t even know they are in the dark.