I grew up singing This little light of mine, I’m gonna make it shine along to my Mary Rice Hopkins kids sing along video and also sometimes in children’s church. Like many of the other songs I listened to in my childhood, the words of ‘This Little Light of Mine’ was etched on my heart. I was always conscious that God’s light was in me (I still am). I made sure that Jesus’ light in me shone through wherever I was, allowing the HolySpirit guide me towards kindness, gentleness and peace as well as towards speaking the truth, standing up for what I believe (hopefully in line with God’s word) and taking action when necessary.
Scripture shows us that right at the beginning, God created us by breathing his breath into us so we can shine and demonstrate his light through how we multiply and dominate the Earth in our different spheres of influence.
God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.””- Genesis 1:27-28.
God is light. If we are made in his image, it means we were created in the image of light. We were created to reflect light.
Jesus is God in flesh. He embodies God’s character in flesh; if you were wondering how God would act if he were human, just check how Jesus behaved throughout scriptures. This creates a sort of framework for us to work from – He didn’t come to destroy the law, he came that the law might be fulfilled through him. He taught us and demonstrated by virtue of how he lived and related with the people he came in contact with that the greatest commandment is Love. “… Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.” This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: Love your neighbour as yourself. All the law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments. There is no dispute about it, Jesus was light everywhere he went.
“In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in darkness, and the darkness cannot overcome it. There was a man sent from God whose name was John. He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that all through him might believe. He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light.
The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world.” – John 1: 4-9.
When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” – John 8:12.
Jesus encourages us to shine our light.
“You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a bushel, but on a stand, and it gives light to all the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your father who is in heaven.” - Matthew 5:14
Recently, I noticed I was not shinning my light fully like I used to. I took a look back and it was obvious that from primary school through secondary school to sixth-form, I was always the best I could possibly be in most respects, grabbing every opportunity that came my way, always working on becoming the best version of myself that I could be, not under duress and pressure but with grace and style. Somewhere along the line at University, I started hiding and holding back. Why? You may ask. Well, the answer is Rejection. The common theme that laced the majority of my university experience was rejection.
I have no problem with rejection. It is a part of life and everyone would come to experience varying degrees of it in one form or the other although I have to stress that when you’ve almost always found your place wherever you have been based, placed or inhabited in society, it is a hard pill to swallow when you find out you can’t seem to fit or find your place in a new setting or environment. It is hard when you were always the one to welcome new people in and make them feel comfortable and accepted until they found their feet, felt accepted and were a part but when you were the new one to the scene, no one helped you. Instead, they tried to sow seeds of insecurities. I also learnt that church people may not be the kindest or most loving people sometimes. I kept wondering… where are the people who love God, who are driven and passionate about the future, who want to make a positive impact in society, who want to have crazy, good, clean fun who also treat people with compassion and kindness? These things are not mutually exclusive … are they?
Rejection doesn’t shock me much anymore. I have learnt how to deal with it and move on. Other people’s ideas about who I am or their actions towards me don’t determine my identity neither do they determine what I can or cannot achieve. Only God does. The truth is I knew these things and proclaimed them to myself but it still hurt, I mean who likes to feel left out or singled out to be humiliated? But I am currently learning how good the hurt was in helping me grow and evolve into a person who relies and depends on God and his word only for my validation and all round wholeness. I recently read Lysa Terkeurst’s Uninvited (which I would probably do a review on sometime soon) and I learnt just how good a force rejection can be in propelling me more towards who God want me to be. Heck, even Jesus was rejected and nailed to the cross by us. If Jesus was rejected, then we definitely would be rejected and he let us know that in Matthew 10:22.
“You will be hated by everyone because of me, but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved.” – Matthew 10:22
So, how does a person let their light shine?
Personally, I think it works from the inside out. At new birth, we are translated from the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of light (Colossians 1:13), the HolySpirit comes to live on the inside of us; our bodies become temples that house the Spirit of Light. When we yield to the HolySpirit’s biddings and promptings in our hearts, He lights up our hearts and this becomes obvious in our thoughts and then in our words and actions such that we become an embodiment of light and everywhere we go, people can sense there is something different about us (in a good way).
We let our light shine through our thoughts.
We let our light shine through our words.
We let our light shine through our actions.
The world is a gloomy and dark place. Many people are grappling with very awful circumstances and situations. Allowing your light to shine even if it is through something as simple and innocent as a smile helps lessen the weight and pull of what people may be facing and it points them in the direction of our saviour, Jesus Christ. Joseph and Daniel are good examples of people in the bible who let their lights shine wherever they found themselves. They were solutions to world problems and that’s what we are meant to be too. Solution providers. Light in the darkness.
I am learning to step out again and I hope I don’t stop trying to step out. I just joined the worship team at church, this was something I felt I should do but was sort of running away from until an older lady who I met at David’s Tent this summer prayed with me and told me some things. One of the things she said went along the lines of ‘You are meant to be singing but you are hesitating’. I was meant to go for an event last Saturday called Maximise Your Life. I paid for it but I ended up not going because I shied away. I am determined to go for the next event and maybe I’ll blog about it.
I am beginning to take my Wednesday fasting a lot more seriously like I used to before. I even found a beautiful church close to my work place where I can spend time praying, meditating and singing hymns during my lunch on Wednesdays. I’m stepping out again and I hope you step out too. If you were already shinning the light with full force, please continue to and if like me you have faced some situations that make you want to retreat into your shell and never come out again, take the step with me and let’s all shine the light in us like never before.
