This post came together from a lesson I taught this past week at our women's night at church. God really used this to speak to me, and I pray that He does the same for you.
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I don't know why, but this is probably my favorite lesson that I have ever taught. I hope (with confident expectation) that God speaks to your heart through it as He did mine.
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Have you guys ever noticed that the world rushes through things and rarely gives you the whole picture? I think this is very evident in our news these days. They shout out catchy headlines but rarely back them up with complete (and true) stories. Most of what we see are really just that, stories. Stories that have been filled with fluff.
Listen to what God said to Isaiah in chapter 46:8-13 (ESV):
“Remember this and stand firm,
recall it to mind, you transgressors,
9 remember the former things of old;
for I am God, and there is no other;
I am God, and there is none like me,
10 declaring the end from the beginning
and from ancient times things not yet done,
saying, ‘My counsel shall stand,
and I will accomplish all my purpose,’
11 calling a bird of prey from the east,
the man of my counsel from a far country.
I have spoken, and I will bring it to pass;
I have purposed, and I will do it.
recall it to mind, you transgressors,
9 remember the former things of old;
for I am God, and there is no other;
I am God, and there is none like me,
10 declaring the end from the beginning
and from ancient times things not yet done,
saying, ‘My counsel shall stand,
and I will accomplish all my purpose,’
11 calling a bird of prey from the east,
the man of my counsel from a far country.
I have spoken, and I will bring it to pass;
I have purposed, and I will do it.
12 “Listen to me, you stubborn of heart,
you who are far from righteousness:
13 I bring near my righteousness; it is not far off,
and my salvation will not delay;
I will put salvation in Zion,
for Israel my glory.”
you who are far from righteousness:
13 I bring near my righteousness; it is not far off,
and my salvation will not delay;
I will put salvation in Zion,
for Israel my glory.”
God declares the end from the beginning. He knows no boundaries. He has spoken and will bring it to pass. He has purposed and will do it. We serve a big GOD. He knows exactly what He is doing. His plan is for us and He has a purpose for each of us. Jeremiah 29:11 tells us this: “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.”
I want to look at something else that most people never even knew that we didn’t have the full picture of. You probably know if as a children’s nursery rhyme. It is, in fact, a poem originally published in Rhymes for the Nursery in 1806. Jane Taylor wrote the song we know as Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star. Below is the full poem:
Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star
BY JANE TAYLOR
Twinkle, twinkle, little star,
How I wonder what you are!
Up above the world so high,
Like a diamond in the sky.
When the blazing sun is gone,
When he nothing shines upon,
Then you show your little light,
Twinkle, twinkle, all the night.
Then the traveler in the dark
Thanks you for your tiny spark,
How could he see where to go,
If you did not twinkle so?
In the dark blue sky you keep,
Often through my curtains peep
For you never shut your eye,
Till the sun is in the sky.
As your bright and tiny spark
Lights the traveler in the dark,
Though I know not what you are,
Twinkle, twinkle, little star.
Source: The Golden Book of Poetry (1947)
Five stanzas. Until last Saturday, I had never known there was more than one. Until last Sunday, I didn’t know what the other four said.
It’s not the poem that I want to focus on tonight. It’s what the fifth and final stanza says: “As your bright and tiny spark/Lights the traveler in the dark”.
Think about what we have been called to do as Christians. Let’s look at Philippians 2:14-16: “Do all things without grumbling or disputing, 15 that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, 16 holding fast to the word of life, so that in the day of Christ I may be proud that I did not run in vain or labor in vain.”
Paul challenges us as believers to live lives that are blameless and pure (innocent), without blemish that we may “shine as lights in the world” or as the NIV puts it “shine among them like stars in the sky”.
Think back to those lines from the poem: “As your bright and tiny spark/Lights the traveler in the dark”.
We are to live our lives in this way. As lights in this dark world.
Elisa Morgan wrote in Our Daily Bread this past week ("Twinkle", October 6, 2018): “We wonder how we can shine like stars. We often feel inadequate and struggle to think our ‘light’ is bright enough to make a difference. But stars don’t try to be stars. They just are. Light changes our world. And it changes us… We who have God’s light in us are to shine in such a way that those around us see light and are drawn to its source. As effortlessly as a star hanging in the night sky, our light makes a difference because of what it is: light! When we simply shine, we follow Paul’s directive to ‘hold firmly to the word of life” in a world in deep darkness, and we draw others to the source of our hope: Jesus.”
Even as I am writing this (the original lesson that I prepared, not the blog post), I am still in the glow cast by the rising sun over the ridge across from my house. God graciously gave me the time to spend in His Word on a extra day off that I forgot completely about. He gave me the time to pull these thoughts together, and the verses I needed to do it. Not only did I get up and get ready for work on a federal holiday that I had off, I also read the wrong Our Daily Bread, which gave us the scripture for the beginning of this lesson.
I struggled this month to get into gear and prepare a lesson for you. I sat down last week to try to work something out. I was going to teach on the names of God. That was not God’s plan for us tonight. He opened my heart to this lesson. Even when Satan tried to get around me reading the Daily Bread on Saturday, God gave me the nudge to pull it up on my phone as Matt and I were driving to Knoxville. I was almost in tears as I read it aloud because God was just speaking deep into my heart. I hope He does the same for you tonight.
We don’t have to strive hard to be a light for God. If we are following and striving after Him, our lives will naturally reflect the glory of God, pointing people to the power of the gospel, just in how we go about our everyday lives. We can reflect the glory of God just like Moses did when he came down from the mountain. We can shine like stars in the sky, pointing others to the hope and joy we have found in Christ.
Let’s look at some scriptures:
Psalm 8:3-4 – “When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him?”
- God has placed us exactly where we need to be.
Genesis 1:3, 14 – “And God said, ‘Let there be light,’ and there was light… And God said, ‘Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night. And let them be for signs and for seasons and for day and years.”
- God made the Sun/Son to be the big light. God made us to reflect that light, to be like little stars in the sky, lighting the way to the big light, the Son.
John 8:12 – “Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, ‘I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.’”
- Jesus is the Son. He is our guiding light.
Luke 11:33 – “No one after lighting a lamp puts it in a cellar or under a basket, but on a stand, so that those who enter may see the light.”
- We are to be a light to all those around us.
Matthew 5:14-16 – “You are the light of the world. A city set upon 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.”
- When people see the hope, light, and joy that is in us, they can know that we are
different. They can know that God has worked in us. They can ask us what is different
about us and they can come to know and accept the gospel. Through this, God gets all the
glory.
Thank you, as always, for reading.
In God, Emily
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