By Daniel Garner
"Don't hide your light under a basket! Instead, put it on a stand and let it shine for all" - Matthew 5: 15 NLT
"Far better it is to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumph, even though checkered by failure...then to rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy nor suffer much, because they live in a gray twilight that knows neither victory nor defeat" - Theodore Roosevelt
Years ago, I knew a woman matchless among the best who could weather storms and had a (good) answer for many of the unique scenarios we faced in the military. Back when I was a bouncing baby Soldier she told me, when I was visibly upset at an obscene outdoor rally disguised as a morality tale, that "people forget they don't have to demonstrate about how bad their past or present is, but how great their future can be. They hide their light. Wherever they are in their lives, if we've done our duties as Soldiers, then the world they can create that future in should be just a bit brighter."
She was a giant.
Thing is, she hadn't always seen it in herself, and that's how she learned it: The hard way. We can have all the right answers, all the right solutions, all of the courage needed to conquer anything, but if that strength and light is wrapped in a shell of indifference, misdirection and confusion then, until their found, it's all for naught. It doesn't matter what we have. What matters is what we do with what we have. Matthew 5: 15 says "Don't hide your light under a basket! Instead, put it on a stand and let it shine for all".
Let's remember not to package that light underneath layers of the world, but rather let it shine for all and be a Beacon for the one who created that world!
But saying it is one thing, and honestly, living it can be another (much harder) thing. Saying that we get overextended sometimes is more than an understatement. But, it's even easier to get overextended if we lose focus of what's important. It's like a tree that has lost its rooting and toppled over.
We can be like those emphatically unfortunate people in the obscene rally: Misguided, confused. Grasping at anything they can label a purpose or "value" to anchor themselves in life to stop their spiraling panic at knowing deep down that they don't know who they really are or what their purpose in life really is. If we chase things like situations, people and trophies, we can lose focus and place to much emphasis on those things and when we eventually obtain them it can ring hollow. Or, even worse, if we don't manage to get them it can feel like the world around us is falling down.
Years later I ran into many of the people from the rally again. Many of them were still the same, sharing with me about their lives and self-admittedly saying they (for starters) drink to much but pray to little. Pre-Marital sex was a requirement of compatibility, not a beautiful award for wedding nights. That they cursed more than they praised and that they were still grasping for solid truth in their lives. I shared with them the truth about the love of God and second chances. I don't know if it stuck, wished I knew, but I tried. Sometimes you have to plant a seed, move on, and trust in the Lord for someone else to water it.
Gently remind yourself throughout your days that you have a relationship with the Creator of the universe, that He loves you and is proud of you. And, most importantly, that if we focus on Him and His Will for us, then we will accomplish wonders, stand victorious and obstacles in our life fall away. But remember, if we don't do that then we can fall to our obstacles.
Every day is a new beginning. Even when the sun sets and the world turns dark, the moon still shines as a reminder that soon the sun will rise again and light up the sky to a brand new day.
So stand straight, focus on the Light and live victoriously!