Dispelling the Darkness
Beloved of God,
Breathe On Me Breath of God / Edwin Hatch and Robert Jackson:
Breathe on me breath of God, So shall I never die, But live with Thee the perfect life of Thine eternity.
When my daughter was a toddler, she would wake me up in the night and ask if she could get up now. I would tuck her back in bed and tell her she could wake me when the light comes through the window. I now find myself saying the same thing to her daughters….. my granddaughters, when they spend the weekend with me. My sister was told her breast tumor was malignant. The next step for her will be surgery. The next step on my thyroid is a needle biopsy of the left side. The fear of the future is like darkness covering me and I am the toddler waiting anxiously for the morning light. Fortunately, the darkness and the light are both alike to my Savior who is a non-anxious presence in the stillness of my heart that waits with me and His abiding Presence brings peace. I love the following devotion written by Debbie Boone. It so ministered to my aching spirit.
Isaiah 60:1-3
Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord rises upon you.
See darkness covers the earth and thick darkness is over the peoples (my family),
But the Lord rises upon you and His glory appears over you.
Nations will come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your dawn.
The Presence of Light by Debbie Boone
Every school morning for the past two years, precisely at 7:00 AM, I have taken a deep breath, climbed up the stairs, and opened the door to my eight-year-old son Jordon’s bedroom.
Each time I’ve steeled myself for the coming battle required to wrench his eyelids apart to start the new day. Most of the time I would leave his room convinced that he was well on his way to being dressed and would be downstairs ready to eat breakfast within ten minutes, only to climb those same stairs at 7:30 AM, push back the door, and find him sound asleep.
A couple of weeks ago, all this changed. And I had nothing to do with it. Jordon started to leave his window shutters wide open when he would go to sleep. The morning light would gently filter in and quite naturally and quickly awaken him. I now walk into his room and find him sitting at his small desk, completely dressed in his school uniform, wondering when breakfast will be ready.
Jordon and I no longer have struggles in the morning. The presence of light has solved the problem completely. As I read the beginning verses of Isaiah 60, my mornings with Jordon came to mind. I asked the Lord to show me how to allow His light to awaken places in my heart that have been content to leave sleeping in the darkness and comfort of my soul. It’s hard to wake up when you are surrounded by darkness. And we can’t transform ourselves into what we should or want to be any more than Jordon could wake himself up just because he knows he should be up.
Exposing ourselves to the light and presence of the Lord’s love not only will uncover the dark places of our hearts, but also will fill them with light so that the glory of the Lord rises upon you.
But how do we expose ourselves to His light? That’s the easy part…….just by leaving the shutters of our heart open. Come to God with an honest expression of willingness to allow Him to change us-by His wonderful and brilliant light.
Shine Your Healing Light upon my sister, O Lord,
May I reflect the light of Your Presence to those around me.
Matthew 5: 14 &15 I am one light in the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither can I hide my light under a bowl. Instead I must let my light shine on those around me that they may see Your Light in me and glorify You, Father, in heaven.
I claim this promise in Isaiah 59: 21 for myself, my daughter, her children, their children and future generations that they thrive in the Light of God’s abiding presence.
“This is my covenant with, Sherry,” says the Lord. “My Spirit, who is on you, Sherry, and My Words that I have put in your mouth will not depart from your mouth, or from the mouth of your daughter, or the mouths of her children, or from the mouth of their descendents from this time on and forever.
In closing, I’d like to quote The Message Version of Psalm 86:11-17.
Train me, God to walk straight; then I’ll follow Your true path. Put me together, one heart and mind, then, undivided, I’ll worship in joyful fear. From the bottom of my heart I thank You, dear Lord, I’ve never kept secret what You’re up to. You’ve always been great toward me-what love! You snatched me from the brink of disaster! God these bullies (cancer) have reared their heads! A gang of thugs (Sickness) is after me- and they don’t care a thing about You. But You, O God, are both tender and kind, not easily angered, immense in love, and You never, never quit.
So look me in the eye and show kindness, give Your servant the strength to go on, save Your dear, dear child! Make a show of how much You love me so the bullies who hate me will stand there slack-jawed, as You, God, gently and powerfully put me back on my feet.
Written by
Sherry Fraser Somerville