SEARCHLIGHT
How alert are you to seeing opportunities to share your faith in Jesus Christ?
SCRIPTURE
"No one lights a lamp and hides it in a clay jar or puts it under a bed. Instead, they put it on a stand, so that those who come in can see the light. " Luke 8:16 NIV
SPOTLIGHT
I was walking down the sixth-floor hospital corridor on my way to the stairwell when I heard a cleaning woman say to a nurse and janitor, “I’m not going to make it today!” Her facial expression and emotion led me to blurt out, “You can make it!”. As I continued to my point of exit, the nurse said aloud, “Sure! He says, ‘You can make it’, as he walks by.”
Immediately, I repeated my positive words of encouragement because I was embarrassed and stunned. As I began walking down the steps, I acknowledged in my mind the truth of the nurse’s words. She was accurate. I had walked by the needy woman and I was not much different than those who passed the wounded, robbed man on the Jericho road. [Luke 10:30-37] I had offered a little encouragement. But it was very little. My words had no substance.
The Holy Spirit began to reveal to me that I had emphasized what the cleaning woman could do and not what Jesus Christ could do. I had said, “You can make it”. People like to think that they are strong. That leads to self-sufficiency. I had encouraged that woman to believe in herself. I was not letting her see the Light that kept me from darkness. [see the Scripture verse above] I had not pointed the needy woman to Jesus Christ, the Light of the world. [John 8:12] I had not been the light Jesus wanted me to be. [Matthew 5:14,15,16] I had been polite but also trite.
On the fourth floor, I turned around and went back up the stairs. Jesus wanted me to be His light. I needed to point her to look to Jesus rather than look within herself. The Holy Spirit began to empower me. I did not yield to my thoughts of embarrassingly reappearing on the sixth floor. When I arrived, which seemed to be such a long time, as it would happen, I had to pass the janitor and nurse before finding the cleaning woman in a hospital room. When she saw me, I simply said to her, “You can’t make it by yourself, and I’ve come to ask Jesus Christ to help you make it today. I want to pray for you.” Quickly she blurted out, “I know I can’t make it. Please pray.”
I took her plastic glove-covered hand, for which she apologized, and asked Jesus Christ to become real to her and fill her with His peace and power. Then I left. I had let my light shine. All of this transpired in less than five minutes. What a privilege it was for me to point this desperate woman to Jesus, the Light of the world. The fact is that anyone can make it through anything at any time when they make Jesus Christ their Light.
SOMETHING TO DO
Here are some steps you can take to become more alert to seeing opportunities to share your faith in Jesus Christ.
- Make this a prayer request. Ask God to give you alertness.
- Begin each day with this prayer for 30 days.
- Ask other believers what they do to be alert.
SOUL TIME PRAYER
Lord Jesus Christ, I believe You are the Light of the world. You have shone Your light into my life. Help me to be your light to those in need of Your light. AMEN