Let the Light Shine!

I Love spring!! I mean, I really love it. It completely changes my whole mind set. It motivates me, lifts my mood and gives me energy. From the moment I wake up in the morning, and can see that the sky is brighter and I hear the birds chirping, I instantly feel the difference within me! It almost makes getting out of bed that little bit easier…..almost! 🙈

As the sun makes a little bit more of an appearance, and the temperature begins to rise, I like to wander around the garden and see if there’s been any changes over the winter. I check to see if my shrubs from the previous year have survived, and look to see if any of my spring bulbs have started to peek through the surface of the ground, ready to bring back some colour. I love seeing the sun shine on the garden, encouraging growth and the rebirth of buds and flowers. Hedges and bushes are full of life, with birds flapping around, secretly trying to build themselves a nest to lay their eggs, ready for hatching in a few weeks. I like to wrap up warm and sit quietly on the garden bench, witnessing the life all around me as this new season enters our year.

Inside, I like to start stripping the covers off my sofas and give them all a good wash in the washing machine. I move furniture and properly hoover out places that haven't really seen the light of day since the previous year! I like to have a proper clear out of junk that has accumulated over the winter, and usually end up with a few bags for the charity shop. Clothes that no longer fit the children are removed from their wardrobes, winter hats and gloves are stored away, waiting to be used at a later date. I have the urge to do all of this, simply because it is so much lighter outside. (I honestly think if I didn’t live in Scotland I’d be a completely different person!😬)

One thing I have been forced to do recently (and not just by Calum, but my daughter Phoebe too) is to go round the coving and corners in the house with my big feathery duster. The amount of dust and cobwebs that have appeared is embarrassing. Despite what Calum may say about my cleaning skills, I do actually from time to time check along these covings to see if they need to be cleaned. But over the last few months there has been nothing to see. (Well, except for a giant web

that had been made around Phoebe's bedroom light, but that was so perfectly formed, I felt it was too impressive to destroy!) However last week as I sat on the stairs waiting to see Josiah off to school, I noticed a whole load of cobwells all along the coving above the front door. As I looked at them, I slowly began examining around the rest of the room. Sure enough, I could see more and more dust and cobwebs all around the room and stairway. As I went from room to room, there was barely a corner that had escaped a mass production of webs!

Later on, when Calum was home, I put the torch on, on my phone and showed him all the dust and webs that I had discovered that morning. He was horrified and informed me how disgusting it was! 😂 (I’m used to his higher standards than mine, so I take it all with a pinch of salt 😉) I did inform Calum that when I am cleaning, I do actually look for things like that. It’s not that I just ignore it. But the difference on that day was, that the sunlight was streaming in the windows showing up all the dust, dirt and webs and exposing them to me. (My kids and Calum reading this will be thinking they are surprised any sunlight can shine in my windows with how dirty they are! I do get a hard time from them all!!) Over the winter when it's darker and duller outside, I can’t see these cobwebs that need swept away. It’s not until spring arrives and the light causes my eyes to see things in a new way.

When I got my big feather duster out and began sweeping away all the cobwebs, I was reminded how often my life can be like these dusty, web covered covings. I need the constant streaming of God’s light in my life so that I can see any sin (dust & cobwebs) building up in me.

It’s so easy, when I avoid speaking to God and reading my bible, I allow habits to form that I know isn’t what He would want. My behaviour can change, and before I know it, a whole different attitude takes a hold of me. I am convinced all those cobwebs on my ceiling don’t appear overnight, instead it must take a bit of time for them to build up. However, I am so aware that it does not take long for me to live outside of God’s light, before a judgemental attitude can take over. I become less loving and my patience is very limited. Sadly, this can easily happen overnight or even within a few hours.

Other times in my life, I have become stagnant in my faith. I have looked back at the more faithful christian I once was, and I can barely recognise the person I used to be. Instead of radiating faith, hope and love, I have become so negative and overwhelmed with hopelessness and feelings of ‘what's the point’. I’m sure Calum is thankful that I never actually let the house get to the point, where it is barely recognisable as the clean, neat and tidy house that he likes. But it is sad to say that I have at times let my faith get to that point.

My friend gave me a beautiful picture for christmas with the verse;

“Your word is a lamp to guide my feet and a light for my path.” Psalm 119:105

God promises that His word, the bible, is like a lamp to show me the way in my life. I am grateful that God is a loving God. He offers second, third, fourth chances to me, and so on. When I turn to God, confessing my failures once again, it’s not long before He shows me what areas of my life need swept out. Where my big problems are that I’ve let accumulate dust and dirt.

As rubbish as I am at dusting and cleaning, once the light shines in and exposes it, I cannot ignore it, something has to be done. When I see God’s light shine on my life and expose the problematic areas, I’m left with a choice. I can ignore them, and pretend they aren’t really as bad as they look, or instead of rolling up my sleeves and looking out my feather duster, I can give that area over to God, allow Him to do the cleaning and allow His light to constantly shine on me, so that the minute any sin gathers, it is exposed and swept away before it attracts more dirt!

“Create in me a clean heart, O God; And renew a right spirit within me.” Psalm 51:10

We live in a world today that doesn’t acknowledge that it needs God’s light to expose its wickedness. Many people believe they are good enough. By our standards, many people are good enough. There are an awful lot of really nice people out there!! But whether or not we are good enough for God, is not measured by our standards, but Gods. The bible says in Romans 3:23; ‘For all have sinned, and fall short of the glory of God.’ It’s not until we compare ourselves to what God thinks, expose ourselves to His light, that we see we fall short of his standard. No amount of ‘good living’ can change that. God's standard is perfection.

Amazingly, God doesn’t leave us with no hope. He does not inform us that we are not good enough for his standard and then leave us there. That wouldn’t really be a message of hope. Instead God has provided a way where we can be made right with him.

“For God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son, so that EVERYONE who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.” John 3:16

Accept the gift that God gave, when he gave Jesus. Acknowledge, that His sacrifice bridged the gap, where we have fallen short. Believe, that through this sacrificial act by Jesus, we can experience a new life that can never be experienced by any other means.