Light

I love to run.  Many times when I run, God opens my spiritual eyes to see something new or He teaches me something through the scenery.  On a recent evening run, I jogged down the sidewalk greatly enjoying the gift of warmer temperatures.  However, every time I met an oncoming car, its headlights blinded me and I could not see anything but the bright, blinding light.  The car's headlights completely disabled my ability to even see my next step.  Immediately, I recalled Saul's encounter with Jesus and the light that literally blinded his next steps for three days...a divinely appointed time (Gal. 1:15-16) when God redirected the very path of his life, while at the same time, ultimately moving the course of Christianity toward His divine plan after the counsel of His will (Eph. 1:11).  Recently, I have been moved by people's stories of a moment in time when God moved dramatically in their lives to get their attention.  Jesus is not obligated to step into our God-forsaken paths that we have chosen and shine a loving light into our stubborn, selfish, prideful hearts, but nevertheless, He does.  He did for Saul (who became Paul) and similarly, He has come to my rescue on more than one occasion.

Interestingly, the blinding light appears when we are not walking side-by-side with the Lord.  When we walk pridefully down the road of self-dependency, Jesus, in His grace and love, may stop us in our tracks to rescue His lost sheep from the way of self-destruction.  Just like running with headlights obstructing my view and like Saul taking his first blind steps after His encounter with Jesus on the road to Damascus, in order to move forward after we are confronted in love by Jesus we must turn (repent) then walk by faith and not sight.  On the contrary, when we are already walking with Jesus, the light that once was over-powerfully paralyzing becomes a comforting guide along the narrow way.  Psalms 119:105 says, "Your word is a lamp for my feet and a light for my path."  Moreover, the less preferable experience with light is when we run too far ahead of the light behind and our shadow casts visual disturbances in the fading light of His loving rays of grace.  If you have ever walked in the dark and the light was far behind you, you may have noticed that your shadow misconstrued the path.  The shadows cause you to become disoriented and the path becomes completely unrecognizable.  In that case, thank Jesus for the Damascus lights that stop us and save us from our own shadows, bringing us to our knees, and protecting us from falling into the pit of destruction.


At one time or another, we, as believers, have or will experience all three positions of the Light (blinding before us, guiding beside us, and left far behind us).  Where is the Light in your life right now?  Can you think of a Damascus God-intervention in your life?  Did you know that it was your loving Father coming to the rescue?!    As we continue down the path God has set before us, let us cling desperately to the Word that guides us in love even if all we can see is the next step.

Posted in: Divine Lines,Rebecca