Despite your best efforts to maintain your passion, do you ever feel overwhelmingly fatigued or worn out in a way that goes beyond one day but rather is a description of your season in life?
In, How to Dwell Securely, Ralph Andrus shares that in 1879, Thomas Edison invented the electric light bulb. Twenty-two years later, in 1901, one of these new creations was installed and turned on in the Livermore, CA, fire department. Amazingly, it’s still there, and still on! By today’s standards, it should have burned out 852 times by now. The bulb, with a thick carbon filament, was made by the Shelby Electric Company, which did not become one of the giants of the nation for an obvious reason. Instead, the Shelby Company made light bulbs to last, and nobody ever reordered.
By Rjaerial - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=94821149
Unlike the Centennial Bulb (pictured above), we as people often burn out, and the more driven we are, the more susceptible we are! This phrase, “I feel so burned out…” is often uttered among people who want to perform and achieve great things in life. But, unfortunately, the desire and aspiration for more can lead to feeling dim on the inside quite quickly. I’ve learned -- the hard way -- that there are a few questions one needs to ask personally when dealing with symptoms of burnout.
Does my life feel meaningful or meaningless?
Am I complaining about things I used to pray for?
If you answered “Yes” to one or both of those questions, let me encourage you:
Never let the meaningful things become meaningless, or the blessing of God’s answered prayers become the source of your complaints.
Allowing either of those two things to happen is a step in the direction of burnout.
This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. - 1 John 1:5 (NKJV)
I’ve noticed that sunny days can have a positive effect on people. We all love sunny days at the beach or on the lake. Bright, sunny days make us feel alive and vibrant. Rays of light make us feel alive! Just like the sun affects us in the physical, the SON, Jesus, has that effect in the spiritual. When He starts to bring light into your life, He lights up all the meaningful and beneficial things. His light highlights all of the things for which we should be grateful. We start to see the answers to our prayers manifest and all the things that we should be celebrating!
We can celebrate the fact that God is light! And He does NOT burn out!
If the world around you feels dark or dim, I challenge you to open your Bible and turn the light on. Because that’s what happens when you open your Bible -- you turn the light on! And, just like the light bulb above, the Word of God never goes out!
Your word is a lamp to my feet And a light to my path.- Psalm 119:105 (NKJV)
God gives us opportunities to see in the dark, but it is up to us to use the light. Closing the Bible in your life is the equivalent of putting a bushel over the light of God (Ref. Jesus’ famous Sermon on The Mount). Each of us must be incredibly intentional about having a daily relationship with the Word of God so that illumination can reveal.
Jesus is the Word of God and the Light of the World. We are to abide in Jesus, and it is impossible to abide in Jesus without obeying His commands, but it is also impossible to obey His commands if we do not know them. Therefore, the only way to learn Jesus’s commands is by reading the Word of God! It’s essential to come to this understanding because:
Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, “I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.” -John 8:12 (NKJV)
Then He opened His mouth and taught them, saying: “You are the light of the world…” -Matthew 5:2, 14 (NKJV)
Did you catch it?
You are the light of the world. You receive the light by believing the Word, and you release the light by obeying the Word. When you obey the Word of God, it makes a positive impact not only on your life but also on the world! You light up the darkness that is in the world. The enemy hates it when you begin to abide in Jesus and light up the world; his mission is to keep people in the dark.
...the god of this age has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them. -2 Corinthians 4:4 (NKJV)
Turn the light on in your life and the lives of others by:
Loving God & Others
God’s light can REVEAL what His love will HEAL.
Serving God & Others
When you do the WORK of the WORD, you light up the WORLD.
Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven. - Matthew 5:16 (NKJV)
I leave you with three statements to think about when it comes to LIGHT:
Light tells darkness how far it can come. Darkness does NOT overpower light.
Light helps find that which is lost. If you feel like you have lost something, look for it in the Word of God, there is no better place to search. Allow God to light up your world and restore that which you’ve lost.
Light always wins. Because God is Light and God doesn’t lose. If you want to win, you must seek the light and let it in.
Again, a new commandment I write to you, which thing is true in Him and in you, because the darkness is passing away, and the true light is already shining. -1 John 2:8 (NKJV)
I invite you to view this message, GOD IS...LIGHT, in its entirety at this link: https://youtu.be/TJv0FJ2lbhc