Living in a Dim Light
God is not a secret to be kept. ~Matthew 5:16, The Message Translation
The sentence leaves no room for excuses. No room for anxiety or doubt.
So why are so many of us using shyness as justification to dim the light we have been anointed and appointed us to shine?
Saying you're too shy is unacceptable when comes to Christ. It just is. Jesus is the greatest story ever told, and we are called to shine a light on it.
Through words and deeds - shine.
Through art and music - shine.
Through math
and architecture
and coaching little league
and leading
and teaching
and sharing
and laughing
and loving
and understanding
and whatever work Heaven has established your hands to do - shine a light.
Being timid about what you know God told you to do is not a personality issue. It's spiritual issue.
We - God's chosen people - have bought into the lie that being introverted or shyness cancels out godly assignment, and where there is a lie there is darkness. Your dim light is a deeper issue, so let's deal with it.
It's Deeper than Being Shy
Only horror stories are good in the dark.
Jesus is the light of the world.
Your world.
My world.
But in his first sermon, the Sermon on the Mount, he flips the script and calls us to join him in the light that defeats darkness.
I just love how my Messiah thinks!
He begins his very first sermon telling us all the ways we are blessed (Beatitudes). Then - before any thoughts on what we have defined as sin, he addresses a bigger issue. A deeper issue. An internalized, socially accepted sin amongst the saints.
Shyness.
This progression is not random. It's a revelation.
Christ knows - timidity in our flesh is a silent killer of our faith, a darkness that has to be addressed before anything else if the world is to believe Jesus Christ is your Lord.
We don't hesitate to tell everyone about the best relationships in our lives, but not our relationship with the keeper of our soul?
We’re going public with this, as public as a city on a hill. If I make you light-bearers, you don’t think I’m going to hide you under a bucket, do you? I’m putting you on a light stand. Now that I’ve put you there on a hilltop, on a light stand—shine! Keep open house; be generous with your lives. By opening up to others, you’ll prompt people to open up with God, this generous Father in heaven. ~Matthew 5:14-16 The Message Translation
You cannot love Christ and have a miser mentality.
A Miser Mentality
Use of the word miser in our modern language is almost none existent, so I thought I would bring it back. It's so fitting for this conversation, but the Bible beat me to it. If Christ is truly in your heart, the light of his love has to be exposed:
We’re not keeping secrets; we’re telling them. We’re not hiding things; we’re bringing everything out into the open. So be careful that you don’t become misers of what you hear. Generosity begets generosity. Stinginess impoverishes.” ~Luke 8: 17-18, MSG
"Don't become misers of what you hear".... Are we hoarding Jesus?
I had to check myself on this one, overflowing from the word of God gone forth on a Sunday but acting "empty" the rest of my week.
Generosity begats generosity.
Not sharing the one who has loved us and how he has loved us through whatever
signs,
wonders,
miracles,
and gifts
he has given us is not justified by our shyness. It just isn't.
Feeding on the bread of life, yet unwilling to share. That's a miser mentality. If the God who loves you, saved you, and keeps you truly matters to you, your shyness won't.
Years ago I invited a young, notoriously shy staff pastor's wife to meet with me for a discussion about potentially participating in our teaching ministry. Cautiously, she accepted my invite, later disclosing she was unsure of its intent. All I can tell you is the Holy Spirit in me saw something special in her hidden for too long. She was living in a dim light, and God is not a secret to be kept.
I LOVE THIS STUFF!
As soon as I began to ask what she believed could be her purpose, the floodgates opened! This woman was not just diminishing her own purpose, but dimming the light of God within her to help other people find theirs! In the 2+ years I had known her, never had she spoken with such passion and tenacity.
Generosity begets generosity. Stinginess impoverishes. Your timid behavior in relationship to your calling is delaying someone's deliverance.
No More Dim Light!
Only horror movies are better in the dark. Time to brighten your light!
For almost a year, my staff and I worked in a dark office because of a problem with the lighting. The ceiling fan was new, so we though it might be defective. Was it a wiring issue? The building is pretty old. We had every reason for why the light was so dim, but never responded to its darkness.
One day our handyman, David, came in and saw the dim light. He immediately went over to the remote and pressed the light button for a few seconds. Suddenly, the brightness of light filled the room!
No one knew the light's dimmer had been activated.
It's time to deal with the darkness over your life and your testimony. God is not a secret to be kept.
Feeling shy? Press your way through.
Introvert? Press your way through.
There is something about God and you that only you can shine a light upon.
Turn it on.
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