How Your Brokeness Can Shine God's Light

📖🙏🏼👉🏼 Years ago, my wife and I won a trip to Puerto Rico through our work. One of our adventures on the trip was a kayaking excursion through a miles-long tunnel of mangrove trees. 

The trees grew together so tightly that they blocked out all light. It was so dark, you couldn't even see your fingers if you held your hand up in front of your eyes.

We were not allowed any flashlights or lanterns. The only light allowed was a single glow-stick per person. The guides had everyone hang a glow-stick on their backs so the kayak behind them would know where to go. 

Even though the person in front of me was only wearing a glow-stick the light was too bright for my eyes. They were simple Halloween style glow-sticks. But in that dark of space, the light felt like a laser melting my pupils. Half-way into the trip I had to ask them to put part of their hood over it. 

You may feel like you don’t have much of a light to shine. But the light isn’t for you. It’s for the person following you in the dark. Even the smallest light can make a big difference to someone in deep darkness.  

You may feel like you are too broken to be a light. Interestingly, every passenger on our kayaking adventure had to break their glow-stick to activate the light inside. 

Like a glow-stick, our brokenness allows the goodness of God to flow through us. People who don’t know love, see it shining in the testimony of a Savior who pours Himself into broken people.  They see His forgiveness through the stories of those who need it. His peace shines through the lives of people going through uncertain times.

No matter how weak you may feel, the strength of God’s light can still shine through your life. The key to shining our light is understanding that you are the lamp, not the flame. You don’t have to burn yourself out trying to get people to see Jesus in you. You just have to be transparent and willing to walk beside people who are lost in the darkness. 

As you read these scriptures, reflect on the light God has become in your own life. What darkness has He led you out of? How could He use you to lead others out of it too? 

📖 2 Corinthians 12:9
But He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is perfected in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly in my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest on me. 

📖 Matthew 5:13-15
You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its savor, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men. You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a basket. Instead, they set it on a stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house.

📖 John 1:4
In Him was life, and that life was the light of men.

🙏🏼 As you pray, surrender your weakness and brokenness to Jesus. He doesn’t need your power to light your lamp, all He needs is access to the wick of your willing heart. Pray out loud, and invite Him to light your heart with His love for others. Ask Him to give you opportunities to help guide others who are in darkness. Ask for divine appointments and thank Him for what’s ahead. I believe with all of my heart that if you sincerely do this each day, you will have incredible experiences shining your light. There’s nothing as fulfilling as guiding people through the dark tunnel of life’s trees to the beauty God has for them on the other side. 

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