If you go to a concert or amusement park at night, you might see a vendor selling glow sticks, bracelets and necklaces. The vendor is surrounded by glowing things and glows himself. He’s really hard to miss. Those bright neon glow necklaces are FUN to have around.
We buy boxes of them when we have parties. The kids love them. When you open the box its dark inside and all you see are plastic tubes and no glow. At first, you think you got ripped off because none of those glow sticks look like the picture on the box. Instead they look like DULL, BORING, and LIFELESS empty plastic tubes.
But when you read the instructions, you recognize that the chemical inside the glow stick needs to be ACTIVATED. That glow stick need to be taken out of the box. It needs to be grabbed with a strong hand and BENT. Once bent, you can see the chemical activate and the color IMMEDIATELY BECOMES ALIVE. The darker the night the better the glow. Anyone that has them really stands out from the crowd.
Before we became a Christian, we were like those glow sticks tucked away in a box. Lifeless. Empty. We are separated from the strong hand that could activate us to an abundant life. That was then but now we have been found. We’ve been taken out of that box and grabbed with the STRONG HAND of our Almighty God.
And we were BENT. Bent on our knees. Flat on our face. Recognizing our sin. Crying out for forgiveness. IMMEDIATELY the Holy Spirit ACTIVATED in us. He filled us…completely!
We BECAME ALIVE.
Why do we feel so DULL when we carry the glow of Jesus’ love in us?
Why do we feel so RIPPED OFF when we don’t have the glow of His victory over us?
Why do we feel so BORED when we have the light of the world in our hearts?
You were designed to glow. But not just in the daylight…when things seem to be going well. You were designed to glow in the dark…to glow in dark places.
You might be in a dark place now. Depression. Loneliness. Heartbreak. Loss.
You may feel like you have been shoved away in a dark box.
You are in that place for a reason.
Jesus didn’t stick you in that dark place by a mistake.
The light of Christ dwells within you.
He wants you to glow.
He wants you to be FUN to have around.
He wants you to be really hard to miss.
Allow Jesus strong hand to gently take yours.
He will walk with you through that dark place.
He will reactivate you.
All you gotta do is bend.
On your knees. Tell Him your pain. Cry out your frustrations.
Ask Him to remind you who He is.
Let his glow necklaces of grace drape over your darkness.
And He will lift you up.
And light you up. James 4:10