Let Your Little Light Shine

You know when you are in a moment and all of a sudden you realize the moment is bigger and means more than you thought it could. Well, that happened to me the other night. I was in a moment, and during that moment, I realized this was deeper than originally thought. So let me explain.

On most Wednesday nights, you can find our family at church. There is a church that we used to go to about 10 years ago or so, and whenever we have the chance, we love to spend time there. We can’t go there always because it is about forty minutes from our home, but we try to get there almost every Wednesday. It is a church that I used to teach at, and one that I still love to volunteer and help out at. Normally I am helping out with the youth group there. This is comprised of 6th-12th graders in middle school and high school.

Some Wednesdays the church has something called “Fusion Nights”. This night is where a bunch of local youth groups get together to celebrate Jesus in one place. There is often a guest speaker and a guest worship band. This last Wednesday night was one of those nights. I hadn’t been in a few weeks, and I was REALLY excited to see what was going on with the kids, and leaders, and to hear a great message. I was not disappointed.

The Message was in 1 John 1. These verses talk about God being the light, and how if we are in the light we are with God. If we are not in the light, then we are not with God. That God is not of the darkness but is in the light. It was a great message. It started off by talking about how we often try to convince ourselves that we are not scared of the dark and tell our kids and little ones that they should too not be scared of the dark. But that is all wrong. The darkness IS scary. It is something that we should not be comfortable with. That we are blinded in the dark. Yet the longer you stay in the darkness, the longer your eyes get used to it. You start to feel ok with it. You are not worried about it any longer. So instead of staying in the darkness, bring things to light. Move towards the light, and let the light shine.

That is when it hit me. I started thinking about the children’s song that goes like this, “This little light of mine, I’m going to let it shine. Oh, this little light of mine, I’m going to let it shine. Yes, this little light of mine, I’m going to let it shine. Let it shine, let it shine, let it shine”. We are all created in the image of God and created to be a light of the world. Yet sin has come, darkness has come, to take that light away. As we move further and further from God and the light, the darker and darker our lives can get.

The moment got more real when we did an exercise where we turned out all the lights. Each person had a candle, and we lit one or two of them. In the beginning, it was dark, but as we passed the flame from one candle to the next and to the next and to the next, it was magical how much light there was. It showed me that just one light breaks through the darkness. It showed me that when we each shine our little light, darkness recedes. It flees from the light.

So what do we do? Well, I say LET IT SHINE! Let your little light shine. Hold onto the light you have, the hope you have. Take that light and don’t hide it. Let it shine. Show everyone the hope that you have. And if you don’t have hope, surround yourself with those that do. Help get that light back. Flee from the darkness and move towards the light. Don’t get comfortable in the dark. This is all a part of the adventure. This is all about showing love everywhere that you go. So go, love others as you adventure. And let that little light shine!