People often say, “Give God your burdens.” Do you ever wonder: How do I do that? The brokenness of the world feels too heavy. And as much as you desire to shine the light of Jesus, you wonder what that looks like when you struggle to see the light yourself. This devotional looks at how we can be lights for Jesus even when our own world feels dark.
WaterBrook Multnomah
Day 1
Scriptures: Matthew 11:28-30, John 1:1-5, 2 Corinthians 4:6
Light in the Darkness
I don’t know about you, but I want to be a person who brings hope to others. I want to be full of joy and be a bright shining light for Jesus. But some days it feels too hard to see the light through dark circumstances. Even though I know God calls me to place my fears, worries, and questions on His shoulders and He promises to give me rest, I wrestle with a darkness in my heart and mind.
John 1:4–5 tells us this about Jesus: “In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” In other words, Jesus is the light of the world. We may feel overwhelmed by darkness, but it will never overcome us because Jesus’s light is in us and around us.
All the negative or hard things you see on your phone do not have a hold on you. The negativity that may surround you at work cannot get in the way of God’s plan for your life. The darkness you see as you go about your day will not overcome you because of the power that is simply in Jesus’s name.
Darkness has a way of telling us that we are stuck. It wants us to feel like it controls us; but the truth is, it doesn’t. We have the power to choose to let the darkness control us or take control of it ourselves with God’s help. The enemy wants us to believe the lie that there can’t be light amid darkness. Satan doesn’t want us to have the hope that Jesus brings us.
Discovering how to be the light of Christ is a process, but it’s a process you are more than capable of. You are right where you need to be at this moment, and He is with you.
Lord, I want to know You more. I want to understand Your heart for me, for others, and for this world. What is an area of my life You are calling me to seek more of You in? Help me fight the lies of the enemy that want to distract me from You. Help me to draw closer to You so that Your light shines through me. Amen.
Day 2
Scriptures: John 8:12, Hebrews 4:12, 1 Peter 5:6-11
The Joy of God’s Word
We might think that “shining the light” means bringing hope to people or delighting in happy moments. While I believe it is in those things, I have learned that light shines the brightest in hard situations. Just like the light of the sun piercing through the broken pieces of a stained-glass window, Jesus pierces through our dark, broken pieces and shines for all the world to see.
When we lean on God in times of darkness we will be strengthened and equipped to shine His light. One way we can draw nearer to the Light of the world is to read God’s Word.
Maybe you’ve found yourself thinking: The Bible is boring, I don’t understand it, and I don’t have time for it. But I want to ask you this: Truly, what in your life should ever have a higher priority than reading the “living and active” Word of God (Hebrews 4:12)? I don’t think this can ever be said enough: God’s Word changes everything.
Reading the Bible isn’t supposed to feel like a chore. It is where we get to encounter the powerful Word of God, and it is one of the ways He speaks to us. So, why would we not want to be in a constant process of communicating with God, allowing him to build us up and refine us? One answer: Satan. The last thing that the enemy wants is for us to put God’s Word first in our lives. So he “prowls around like a roaring lion” (1 Peter 5:8), doing everything in his power to distract us, lie to us, and make us feel like it is okay to not make the Bible a priority.
As we all know, our phones can be one of the biggest distractions in our lives! But one way you can use your phone for good is to set a recurring reminder that says something like, “Have you read the most important thing in the world yet today?”
Reading our Bibles is 100 percent the will of God for our lives, so if we ask Him to strengthen us to do it daily, we can have confidence that He hears us.
Lord, I want reading Your Word to be something I get excited about, something that draws me closer to You every day. Thank you for speaking to us through the Bible. Help me to know You more. Amen.
Day 3
Scriptures: Exodus 3:1-12, Psalms 139:1-24
Drawing Near to God
Prayer is another way to draw closer to God as we become a bright light for Him. In the Bible it says, “We are confident that he hears us whenever we ask for anything that pleases him. And since we know he hears us when we make our requests, we also know that he will give us what we ask for” (1 John 5:14–15). We can bring all our hurts, worries, and longings to God’s feet.
Praying through the book of Psalms is a great way to communicate with God when you are struggling to put thoughts into words. Most of the psalms, such as Psalm 139, are prayers written by others. I find it very meaningful to offer up the same declarations and requests that people like King David prayed to God. Since the Psalms are a part of God’s Word, it is powerful when we make that choice to pray them—or any Bible verse—over our lives. As we looked at yesterday, the Bible is alive, active, and aligned with the heart of the Lord.
As we come closer to God, we learn to lean on Him more and more. Moses’s story in the Bible reminds us of this. In Exodus 3:1–12, God appears to Moses from within a burning bush. (Notice that God appears to Moses in the form of light!)He then calls Moses to bring the people out of Egypt—a huge task to complete. Moses’s response was to ask, “Who am I?” You may have that response to the call on your life: But, Lord, who am I?
God’s response to Moses was: “I will be with you.” My friend, in everything you do, the Lord is with you. You may be doubting your call. You may feel disqualified to go and be a light for Christ. You may not even want to do it. But the Lord will be with you. That is a promise from God. You aren’t called to do any of this holy work alone, but rather alongside the Father. When you draw near to the Lord, His radiance shines from you.
Lord, I come before You today with a heart eager to draw closer to You. I cannot do this alone. I need Your strength and Your grace. Protect me, guide me, and teach me more about Yourself. Amen.
Day 4
Scriptures: Isaiah 61:3, Psalms 103:1-12, Romans 8:31-39
Set Free
Addiction, trauma, insecurities, and failures. When it comes to our desire to be a shining light for Christ, it’s easy to feel disqualified when we have a deep, dark secret restricting our heart and mind, constantly reminding us of our hidden sin.
We try to stuff these dark things in a box where no one can see them. We are afraid that if we bring them into the light, our lives will change for the worse. We worry what people would think of us if they “only knew.” That’s because the Enemy wants to keep us trapped and chained to our sin. He wants us to believe that what other people think is more important than what God tells us.
But do you know what disqualifies you from shining the light of Christ? Nothing! No matter how dark you feel your sin is or how broken you think you are, Jesus’s love for you is so wide and so deep that even amid your brokenness, He wants to use you to shine His light on others.
Bring what you are hiding into the light, and let the Lord set you free. Because no matter what is bogging you down in shame, you aren’t meant to carry it alone.
God chose you, knowing the sin you would walk in. He chose you, knowing you are broken. He chose you, knowing everything about you. And nothing, absolutely nothing, can take away the fact that God loves you and calls you to be a light for Him.
God promises to give us “beauty for ashes” (Isaiah 61:3). Your past does not disqualify you from being used by Him. With Him, and through Him, you are more than capable of shining His light.
Lord, thank You for Your unending grace. I ask that any lie of the enemy stays far away from me, in Jesus’s name. I ask for forgiveness for the ways I have sinned against You. I praise You for being my redeemer. Thank You for forgiving me, seeing me for who I am, and loving me. Help me be a light for You. Align my heart with Yours. Instill within me the desire to be the best reflection of You that I can be. Take away anything in my life that hinders my representation of You. Amen.
Day 5
Scriptures: Isaiah 60:1-5, Ephesians 5:8
Children of Light
In the book of Isaiah, we see how the people of Jerusalem were feeling trapped in the darkness of the world around them as well as in their own sin: “So there is no justice among us, and we know nothing about right living. We look for light but find only darkness. We look for bright skies but walk in gloom.” (Isaiah 59:9).
But then the prophet Isaiah calls them higher. He calls them into the truth.
“Arise, Jerusalem! Let your light shine for all to see. For the glory of the Lord rises to shine on you. Darkness as black as night covers all the nations of the earth, but the glory of the Lord rises and appears over you.” (Isaiah 60:1–2)
You, too, are called higher. You are not trapped in darkness. The actual light of this world came down and lived a human life, and then He gave His life for you. The darkness of this world can feel overwhelming. The darkness we sometimes partake in can seem appealing. You may feel inadequate to shine the light of Christ. That is where the enemy wants you to stay! That is the darkness those in the book of Isaiah were feeling trapped in. But then we see Isaiah tell the people to arise and shine.
My friend, I am saying to you right now, “[Insert your name here], arise! Let your light shine for all to see. For the glory of the Lord rises to shine on you.”
Fix your eyes on Jesus, and let Him change the way you see things. He is the author and creator of all, and He wants you to see things how they really are: already overcome by the light of the world.
It’s time to arise and shine. It’s time to stop living in the lies of the enemy and start living on the truth of God’s Word. It’s time to stop trying to shine the light on yourself but rather shine the light onto Jesus. It’s time for you to shine the light of Christ so that all of the world may see and know the glory of the Lord. You’ve got this, my friend.
Arise and shine.
Lord, I want Your light to shine in me and through me. Remind me every day of the truth that You are greater than any darkness! Amen.