Where Does Your Light Shine?

I normally keep a flashlight in the "junk" drawer so that I can grab it easily if I need it. Usually the only time I need to grab it is during a power outage when it get's dark or if the kids have a sore throat and I need to inspect the "damage." The other day, my friend was visiting when her battery went dead. It was late and when her hubby came to the rescue, he of course wanted to use my flashlight. I went to the junk drawer to retrieve it from it's normal spot, only to find it was missing. Apparently, the girls had been playing with the flashlight again, and didn't put it up.

What does this have to do with anything spiritual? I have been thinking lately about my LACK of consistency with the SHINE blog and meetings. It isn't that I want to stop ministering or feel that SHINE is no longer important. Life has taken a turn of events I did not expect and honestly they have been, to be quite honest, WONDERFUL. But if I have to be honest, my vision has changed. I haven't been living in as many "dark" places. As a matter of fact, I have been challenged with inspiration for blogs. All I can seem to think about is how wonderful life has been and how amazing God is.. but putting it into a blog "lesson" so to speak has been challenging. My goal has been to just praise God through it all, and my facebook page has probably driven a few people nuts with all my praise and "ooey gooey" emotionalism.

I didn't answer the question, did I? What does this have to do with anything spiritual? Let me first say that I am NOT wishing for dark places in my life again. The last 12-14 years have been a roller coaster of dark places, and quite honestly I am tired of living in the dark. BUT.... God showed me something about all this today. Our light shines best in the dark. There is a verse in Matthew that talks about being blessed and how when trials come and when we are at the end of our rope, we are blessed. It says with less of me there is more of Him. I am paraphrasing of course, but you get the idea. When I am at my darkest points in life, it gives more opportunity for His light to SHINE so much brighter. The occasional "power outage" when we cannot function on our own and the "sore throats" of life that cause sickness and irritation... they can become such a huge source of testimony when people see God shining through our desperate circumstances.

Honestly, as I think about it today, I wonder how much my "witness" right now is doing anyone any good. My life has been wonderful! God has provided me with a man that loves me the way I have always wanted to be loved, He has provided for me in ways I never could have imagined, His favor has just been beaming down on me day after day. Maybe I have even forgotten about how important it is to have my "flashlight" ready. Maybe I have been like my girls and just been playing around with my light seeing what cool things it can do and forgot to keep it charged up for it's real purpose. Maybe I need to get my "batteries" charged and make sure my light is in its place for times of emergency.

I guess my question for you is, "Where does your light shine?" Do you shine in the dark places of life? Are you taking the opportunities when you could be charging your batteries to actually be doing that, or are you just playing around in the coolness of it all not thinking about being prepared for the next "emergency"? God has really pricked my heart today about using my times of being blessed to prepare for the next "dark spell" of life. Maybe we all need to charge up our batteries a bit so we can SHINE brightly during the next dark spell. It doesn't mean we can't enjoy the blessings God is giving us, or that we cannot be a witness during those times, but it does mean we should use that time wisely and charge our spiritual batteries. Time to go get charged!!!