Light and Joy
From Guideposts - Sue Monk Kidd Matthew 5:16... Let your light so shine before men...
One day my small daughter painted her very own "stained-glass" picture - a plastic sign that spelled the word "joy". She filled in the panes with translucent purples, blues and reds. I propped it in the kitchen window, where it caught the sun's rays and reflected a rainbow of light into the room. It was almost like looking at joy itself. Every morning when I arrived in the kitchen, there it was - joy streaming in through the window.
But one morning I walked into the kitchen in a dark mood. The joy sign made such a contrast to my feelings that impulsively I reached up and pulled the curtain across it. Like snuffing out a candle, I thought. All the colorful brightness it had smiled into the room disappeared.
Later as I crossed the back yard to empty the trash, I glanced up at the window, expecting to see the sign shining as gaily as it had from the other side. But a curious thing had happened. The word "joy", usually so brilliant, leaned against the sill dark and dull. The sun was still beaming down into the little piece ... but why were the once vibrant colors so downcast? Then I saw it. The curtain I had drawn now served as a backdrop that prevented the light from filtering through. Shining in was not enough to light it; the sun had to shine through.
People are like stained glass,I thought.We're not meant to let God's light simply shine in on us - we must let it shine through us. Otherwise joy will darken and fade away. As I returned inside, the kitchen curtain was not the only thing I had resolved to open wide. It occurred to me that there were a few curtains of my own, drawn between myself and others, that needed opening as well.
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Lord, fill our hearts with the light of Your presence.
Let Your light shine through us each ...
onto others.
In the name of Jesus Christ.
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