415 No More Darkness

As a teenager I went to a little country church were we sat in wooden pews and people stood up and testified on a weekly basis. At the end of each service the pastor would look out across the congregation and lock eyes with someone, then ask them to pray aloud. I made the mistake of not looking away one time. His eyes locked with mine and then he asked me to pray, me the teenager with big poofy bangs, praying in front of the entire congregation. I learned many things in that church, one of which was NEVER look up when it’s time to pray. Another thing I learned in that little country church was all the old hymnals my Grandma sang. Remember the days when the song leader would say, “everyone turn to page 117 and let’s sing I Saw the Light.” You looked much more spiritual if you could sing it without looking at the hymnal so I would try my best. I saw the light I saw the light No more darkness no more night Now I’m so happy no sorrow in sight Praise the Lord I saw the light. My days of sitting in those wooden pews and flipping through the pages of a hymnal have long since passed and I now sit in a cushy charcoal gray seat and read the words on a big screen, but some things never change. I still get all choked up every single Sunday and fight back tears. I still feel God move my heart when I see others accept Jesus. And today that old Hank Williams song “I Saw the Light” has a whole new meaning. You see, 2 weeks ago when my Daddy was taking his final breaths here on Earth he said “RUN TOWARDS THE LIGHT!” He also busted out in a deep belly laugh and said “ahhhh, Jesus is so funny, everyone is laughing here.” My Daddy saw the light and he ran right to it, laughing much of the time. For today’s devotional, let’s take another look at that old song our Grandmas sang in church. I wandered so aimless life filled with sin I wouldn’t let my dear savior in Then Jesus came like a stranger in the night Praise the Lord I saw the light. Gosh, have I ever wandered through life at times. How about you? Have you been wandering and not letting your dear savior in? In Revelation 3:20 Jesus says “Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in.” How much longer will we wander through this dark season of our life and not let Jesus in? How long has he been knocking on your door? How long has he been calling your name? How many times has he let your good plans fall apart so that you would finally surrender to him and let HIM establish your ways? Proverbs 6:3 says “Commit to the LORD whatever you do, and he will establish your plans.” To put it in words we can really understand, other translations say “share your plans with God, ask him to bless them and then you will succeed.” Success comes when you invite God into your plans. Within the inner circle of BIG Life, there are 350 women whom I will mentor this month. One of the key elements of BIG Life Mentoring is monthly goal writing. With this being the 2nd day of a new month, many are writing or finishing up their goals for September. You know what we should do … we should share our goals with God and ask him to bless them. Could this be the key missing element on your quest to becoming better and living bigger … you’ve forgotten to share it with God? How about we change that now! He’s been knocking. Oh how he’s been knocking. But he won’t force his way in. He sees your plans. He’s been there while you’re writing your goals. He knows all your hopes and dreams, remember he’s the author of your greatest desires. And he wants nothing more than to help you successfully step into all that’s available to you in life,