Thursday, February 21, 2013

Carry the Lamp

When I was a child, I was afraid of the monsters that crouched there, waiting for me to go to sleep. I hid under the covers and clinched a flashlight in my hands, trusting its weak glow to keep evil at bay.

I'm all grown-up now, but I'm still afraid of the dark: fear, anger, frustration, all lurk in the shadows.  Childhood flashlights don't work...but what will?

Your Word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path.
Psalm 119:105
That's easy, I thought. So I sat in the mornings with my Bible in my lap; my eyes rolled over words my brain didn't see. I mentally raced through a few verses I remembered from Bible Drill. Then I leaped up and headed out the door.

But darkness still came:  disappointment, insecurity, impatience. Perplexed, I read those words again. My eyes focused on the word lamp. A lamp sits on a table and you turn it on and off, right? How can that be of any help?

Wait, a lamp's also something you carry with you. Your Word is a lamp... If I want light to shine around my feet as I walk, I have carry His Word with me.  If I hold onto His truths, my feet won't stumble on the rocks in my path.

I need the glow of God's Word to dispell the fear that I am unable to do what God calls me to do. But the words of 2 Timothy 3:16-17 encourage me:

All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.

How has God's Word brightened your path?