Words of Faith

The following is an exerpt from Ann’s latest book- Yahoo, Dad! . Yahoo, Dad! and Ann’s other book, Spur, are available at the following storefront url: http://stores.lulu.com/2inthesaddle.

Lord, I want to be a moon

 

            In a darkened sky 

 

            I wanna follow the Son

 

            And reflect His light.

 

 

            I am a Point of Grace ‘wanna be’, and even if I would sing that little verse in my best voice, I would never make it past the ‘wanna be’ stage.  But, the words are very true.  I do want to be a moon, a creation of God that lights up the darkness and reflects the light

of the Son of God.

 

            I love the moon!!  It is so comforting to me.  I have never been overly fond of the darkness.  It holds too much uncertainty and bleakness.  I like light and lots of it!!  In the darkness, I get confused; I stub my toes and run into things.  I cannot see into people’s eyes, I can’t find things that I need at the moment, and I feel alone.  Darkness is not conducive to the things I like. 

 

The Bible speaks of darkness in some unfavorable ways too. (Psalm 107:10, 14) (Proverbs 4:19) (John 1:5) (Joel2: 2) (Zephaniah 1:15) (Isaiah 9:2) (Psalms 82:5) (Psalms 91:5-6).  It also points out several solutions to darkness.  One is Jesus himself.  He is the light.  Another is the physical sun- that huge gaseous ball that illumines the daytime with brilliant, radiant light.  God also created a solution to the darkness that occurs when the earth rotates and the sun sets for the night.  He created the moon to be a light for the darkness of night.

 

Let’s take a look at some of the qualities and characteristics of the moon.  First of all, let’s look at the location of the moon.  It is located up in the sky for everyone to see.  It is not hidden.  It is public.  And its position is one of following the path of the sun across the sky.  It does not jump around.  It is designed to follow the path of the sun.

 

The moon has a specific job and function in our world.  It lights the night.  It shines!  Now, we all know that the moon has no light of its own; it simply reflects the light of the sun.  The moon is also very recognizable as a moon.  Not many people look up at the night sky and do not know what the moon is.  There is a family resemblance to the sun.

 

The moon also goes through phases.  There is a full moon, when we see the brilliance of the sun reflected fully on the entire surface of the whole moon.  It is large and round and full of the radiance of the sun.  Then we see the first quarter and the last quarter of the moon, which look quite similar, where ½ of the moon is actually in the shadows, a shadow cast by the earth coming between the sun and the moon, and blocking the moon’s ability to reflect the sun on all of its surface.  The moon is still all there…half of it doesn’t just drop off, but part of it is darkened.  Then comes the new moon, when the surface is totally blocked for a night. It is not that the moon is not there.  Oh, no, the moon is still traveling on its path of following the sun, but the reflection of light is blocked.

 

 

The last characteristic of the moon that I would like to touch on is that the moon’s shining is not affected by rejection. The moon’s shining is not dependant upon whether people like the moon (like I do) or do not like it.  The moon does not apologize for being where it is and doing what it does.  When the moon is full, I open all the blinds and curtains in the night, because I love it when the moonlight shines through the windows and illuminates the night.  My husband, on the other hand, goes around the house closing all the shudders and curtains.  He cannot stand the full moon.  Its light disturbs his sleep and “nighttime ness”.  The light of the moon irritates his nighttime darkness. 

 

Can you see how we as Christians can be a lot like the moon? We, like the moon, need to be visible in the darkness of the world in which we live.  We are not called to be hidden Christians.  Quite the contrary, we are called to be the light of the world.  (Matt.5: 14) We are supposed to be up there in the sky for everyone to see.  We need to be public followers of the SON!

 

We, like the moon, have a job, a function in this dark world.  We are to light the night, to shine in the darkness, always remembering that we have no light of our own, but rather, we reflect the light of the Son.  Do you remember when I said that the moon is recognizable as a moon?  There is a family resemblance to the sun.  We have that family resemblance to the SON, Jesus.  Do we resemble God’s son?  Do people know by seeing us who/what we are?  You know how encouraging it is when you are out in public and someone makes a comment on how much you resemble your mother or father, or how one of your children looks just like you or your spouse.  It solidifies the family tie, that sense of belonging that keeps us going. Oh, how I want people to see Jesus in me!  I want that family resemblance. I am a big eye contact person.  I want to look in peoples’ eyes and SEE them.  Many years back, Amy Grant had a popular song titled “My Father’s eyes”. It talks about us having God the Father’s eyes in looking at other people.  Like that song said, I hope that when people look at me, they can see my heavenly Father’s eyes looking at them. I want to be just like Jesus. 

 

Now comes a quality of the moon that is a little tricky to talk about.  You see, the moon goes through phases.  There are times when it shines bright and full, and there are times when its surface is darkened.  It is always there in the sky, but not always shining brightly. Just like the moon, we have phases in our walk with the Lord. We shine and reflect the light most of the time.  Sometimes our friends (Christian and non-Christian) in our life do not always appreciate us around shining, but they know we are always there for them and they know they can call on us in the hard (dark) times. But there are times when our light is not very visible, too. The joy goes out of our heart. The light goes out of our eyes, and for any number of reasons, we do not reflect the Son’s light like we used to. Oh, we are still hanging up there in the sky. The world knows we are still there, but we need a new touch, a fresh encouragement to shine and let the Son reflect in our lives. Have you ever been in one of those “new moon” phases in your path across the sky, following the Son? I have too.  During those times, it is absolutely necessary for us to stay on the path and press closer to the Son.  (Jas. 4:8) says to draw near to God and He will draw near to you.  If we draw near, get closer to the Son; it becomes easier to once again reflect His light. Don’t be concerned about the time it takes to get the light back. There are some nights when the moon is just a tiny thumbnail in the sky.  You are on your way. Just keep following the Son

 

Last, but certainly not least, there is the point that the moon is not affected by rejection. It does not apologize for being where it is and doing what it does. When my husband goes around grumbling and closing all the curtains, the moon does not dim its light, or stop shining because he does not appreciate the moon’s shining!  Some people will welcome you as a moon. They will open the blinds and enjoy the soft light in a dark world. Others will close all the shudders and blinds and put blankets on the windows to keep the light of the moon out.  It is not easy to sleep in the light, and those who want to continue their sleep (especially Christians) will shut you and your moonlight out. Do not lose heart.  It is also easier to do the things that are not good in the dark, when some element of secrecy and anonymity exists.  As a shining moon, many may reject you.  But, a faithful moon will just hang in up there in the night sky and keep doing and being what it was created to be.

 

Be encouraged.  Keep on following the path of the Son across that dark sky.  Stay close to Him and keep yourself open to reflect His light. Know that there will be phases, and there will be rejection, but press on, because you are desperately needed in that night sky. There will be many who will find direction, light and comfort from a faithful moon reflecting the light of God’s Son. The good news is that the darkness does not last forever, and through being a faithful moon, this is where we end up:

 

“And I saw a great white throne and Him who sat upon it..” Rev. 20:11

 

“And He shall wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there shall no longer be any death; there shall no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away.  And He who sits on the throne said “Behold, I am making all things new.” Rev. 21:4-5a

 

“And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband.”  Rev. 21:2

 

“ And the city has no need of the sun or the moon to shine upon it, for the glory of God has illumined it, and its lamp is the Lamb…And in the daytime  (for there shall be no night there) its gates shall never be closed.”  Rev. 21:22-23, 25a

 

Do you want to be a moon?

 

In the darkened sky,

 

Will you follow the Son?

 

And reflect His light.

 

 

There I was, singing away as I drove down the dirt road. I was right on schedule, and making a “joyful noise” to the Lord. I came to the end of the dirt road, stopped at the STOP sign, and turned left onto the pavement. I was still singing when suddenly, out of nowhere, a deer burst onto the highway from the right. I had just stopped and looked in all directions, and was right in front of the direction where the deer had to come from, and saw nothing. Needless to say, my singing came to an abrupt end. I slammed on the brakes, and thankfully missed hitting the deer, but just by a smidgeon.

 

            It was a long workday, and on my return trip home, at dark, I became a little paranoid about the whole animals on the road thing. I began seeing  “deer” and “elk” in every shadow, and crept along at a 40 mph pace. It took me half the night to get the 70 miles home!

 

            It is interesting to note that sometimes sin and temptations are similar to my animal situation. I can’t even number the times in talking with friends or in counseling others (and myself) that someone mentions that a particular temptation or sin “blind sighted” them or came out of nowhere to slap them in the face, throwing them for a loop. Our enemy has a way of throwing us for a loop and attacking out of the blue, in ways we weren’t expecting or areas in which we thought we had gained victory. That is good battle strategy. We recover with the Lord’s intervention, but often afterwards we can become preoccupied with fear of another attack coming out of nowhere, without any warning or even possibility of a threat- just like my deer. Who expects to see a deer running across the road in the broad daylight of 8:30 in the morning?  And living our brave spiritual lives in the daytime becomes a slow crawl as we look for temptations to avoid! Every shadow becomes a possible temptation, and the result is we live our lives in fear of the enemy’s schemes instead of the victory of our glorious King!

 

            Jesus fought the supreme battle against the forces of evil once and for all for us. We can take any failures or sins or temptations to His throne of grace to be lost forever in Him. We must be alert to take up the armor of the King’s warriors and continue His work of seeking the lost to show them the way to the Kingdom.

 

            No mistake- the devil is on the rampage…but so are the warriors of God. One good way to wage war is to be ready in season and out of season to give an account or reason for the Hope that is in us. (2Timothy 4:2; 1Peter 3:15) If we are always at the ready to give an answer to anyone as to the Hope that is in us, that means that we have to have our testimony always on our minds. We are always remembering what God has done and is doing in us. We also have to have our sword of the Spirit, which is the very word of God in our minds and hearts- ready.

 

            While we should not spend our time searching for possible temptations to avoid, we should be ready in word, deed and attitude to defend against any fiery darts that come our way. We can only be ready if we are submerged in the presence of our holy God, meditating on His very words to us, and quick to recall what He has done in and for us.

 

            “. sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always ready to make a defense to every one who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and reverence.”  I Peter 3:15

 

            “And they overcame him (the dragon- Satan) because of the blood of the Lamb and because of the word of their testimony….” Revelation 12:11