Lighting the Way

I've been trolling the fix-it stores and home decorating websites for an overhead kitchen light lately. I'm just coming off of my annual need to change everything in my house, and the kitchen is the last beneficiary of my efforts...until something else catches my attention.

Seriously. Sometimes I think I need a recovery program for those of us addicted to the next shiny penny.

Before I get too far down this rabbit trail, I need to tell you the deep thought that struck me right there in the lighting department at Menards. I should say the deep thought that almost struck me right there in Menards but waited until after I'd made my purchase which now needs to go back. Ahem.

Lured in by a clearance tag, I purchased a decent looking light fixture to replace the old brass-covered-in-paint-splatter mess currently hanging from my ceiling. Because no, I don't need to tape off or remove anything. I was sure I could paint neatly around the edges of that fixture...

The man in the lighting department said, "Now you know that's a fluorescent light, right?"

"Yup," I said, the bright red price sticker reflected in my eyes.

On the way home, I started thinking about fluorescent lighting and how it washes out my complexion and has the tendency to change the way things look. If the kitchen light will enhance the bags under my eyes, maybe I should rethink this.

Then I started thinking about all the different kinds of light...black light, natural light, incandescent light (which apparently is on the edge of extinction), and the different wattages of light. Sometimes my head is a weird place to hang out.

But then...here it comes...I started thinking about the scripture "The light shines in the darkness and the darkness did not overcome it. (John 1:5)" God is able to shine His light into any darkness and the darkness will not overcome it. That is His comfort and promise to us. But sometimes we don't see it.

Could it be that the light He shines into our particular darkness is revealing things we are choosing not to see? Could it be that because we expect things to look one way, we miss what He is illuminating in our situation? Maybe, instead of a floodlight, He is pointing a little penlight onto one facet our life. Prisms cover the walls of our true need but our eyes are focused on the whole landscape.

Be encouraged today as you are waiting for God to do something, anything, in your situation, that He is always working on your behalf. His light shines into every darkness; that is His promise and His character. But He might be shining in a direction you weren't expecting using a source you didn't anticipate. Look for His fingerprints.

As for me, I have to make a trip back to Menards one of these days and return the fluorescent light. One thing I don't need help with in my kitchen as I fill my morning coffee cup is looking washed out and baggy. I got that covered. :)