Let Your Light Shine Bright

So I was looking at my past pictures and I have to say, I cannot believe how much I have grown. By that, I don’t simply mean physically but spiritually as well. It is funny but I see the growth in my pictures.

I am not the same girl anymore. I am not the same person I was 10 or even 5 years ago. Heck, I am not even the same person I was last year! I am no longer the girl who was barely surviving, hanging on simply because I have to. No! Now I hang on knowing exactly WHY. I have a purpose. I have a reason for living. If I was not needed, God would not have created me. But HE DID. Oh, yes He did. He did it all, INTENTIONALLY, on purpose-fully aware. That is why I hang on-because I am not done yet and the good Lord is not done with me either. God is intentional, and there’s never a time where He’s unsure of the ones who He’s called. NEVER.

As I look at my old pictures, I see a lost, confused soul led by her carnal desires (which are so deadly), prowling and yearning for approval. People’s approval. When you live for people’s approval, you slowly begin to dim your light.  By the way, these are people who did not create me, who do not provide for me, who do not love me unconditionally the way that God does but rather; people who 50% of the time do not care about my wellbeing and spend the other 50% of the time trying not to join in on my pity party (lets be honest, don’t we desire this sometimes?). I don’t blame them though because they were JUST LIKE ME-simply getting by, needing exactly what I wanted but somehow, nobody was offering exactly that. Isn’t it strange how we all have the same desires (to belong, to be accepted, to be loved) but somehow, we don’t help each other out?

That is a dangerous place to be, you know. When you’re living for people’s approval. When you’re simply getting by. When you’re existing, but not living. You’re not living because there’s no passion in you. When you have a distaste for any and everything. When you would rather be in a corner and go unnoticed. You think it’s better for you to let the ‘cool kids’ take the stage. But when, just when? When will you decide to be the light that you were called to be? One thing we miss is that LIGHT CANNOT BE HIDDEN. So you can’t be light, and be in a corner, all boxed up. Stop hiding and take centre stage. LET YOUR LIGHT SHINE BRIGHTER THAN EVER! And while you’re at it, be sure not to let anyone blow your candle out.

So what if people don’t like you? So what if your light makes them uncomfortable? My pastor once said this; “If their praise did not make you then their criticism cannot, will not and must not break you!” Let your light shine anyway, you don’t live for them. You live for the ONLY ONE. The one who showed His love on the CROSS (1 John 4:9), the one who loved you even while you were a sinner (Romans 5:8), the one who formed you in your mother’s womb (Psalms 139:13), the one who is willing to turn all your ashes into beauty (Isaiah 61:3). The one who has made you the LIGHT (Matt 5:14).

The ONE-WHO WAS, WHO IS, AND WILL BE (Hebrews 13:8) (Exodus 3:14).