NOTE: Today’s reflection comes from my brother-in-law, Andrew, who is a youth pastor in the Virginia Beach area. I have known him almost as long as I’ve known my husband, and have been a witness to how he is a Light to his family, in his ministry, and to the world.

DAY 8 INTENTION: Courage

As we pray on this eighth day of our prayer challenge, let us ask the Spirit for courage as we remember that God is with us always, and there is nothing in this world that can separate us from the love of God:

No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord (Romans 8:37 NIV).

REFLECTION: Light of the World

Written by Andrew Marshall

Jesus said if you have a lamp you do not hide it under a bowl.

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 basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in 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 5:14-16 ESV).

The imagery of light and darkness is used all throughout God’s word to give us a visual for the battle between good and evil. Light will always overcome Darkness. If you walk into a dark room you can turn on a flashlight or a light switch and the Darkness will flee.

There’s no such thing as a Darkener or a device that makes a room darker, only lighter.
The same goes for the darkness in the world. The darkness cannot overcome those who possess the light it can only make us flee and hide. God has provided us with the light with the intent of us going out and spreading the light.

In Acts 2, the Holy Spirit was poured out in fire, which is light.

In Exodus 19, God visited his people on Mount Sinai with lightning thunder, and fire, which is light.

What’s really interesting is sometimes we are scared to be light in the Darkness and feel like God is not in the darkness. It is not true.

In Exodus 20, God’s people were afraid to approach the mountain and ask Moses to speak to them on behalf of God. In verse 21 it says, “The people stood far off, while Moses drew near to the thick darkness where God was” (emphasis added).

Even in the darkest moments of Our Lives, God is there. Even in the darkest darkness of our nation God is there.

When I was a kid, I would go camping with my family. One night, my dad took me on a walk in the woods without a flashlight. I can’t ever remember being so scared in my entire life than walking in the dark with all the sounds of the creatures in the woods.

The next time I decided to walk into the woods, I had a flashlight. It is hard to explain the difference it made to have a flashlight in my hand as I walked through those same woods.

In Genesis 1, God creates light and calls it good. Let us remember Christ’s words once again and never forget that we are the Light of the World.

Do you feel like you’ve been hiding? Let us ask the Holy Spirit for the gifts of courage and holy boldness, that we might be the Christ’s Light in the darkness. Be not afraid. The world needs us.

In the beginning when God created[a] the heavens and the earth, 2 the earth was a formless void and darkness covered the face of the deep, while a wind from God[b] swept over the face of the waters. 3 Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light. 4 And God saw that the light was good; and God separated the light from the darkness. 5 God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day (Genesis 1:1-5).