“How can I pray for you?” I asked her. She began to tell me her troubles. Like so many others, she shared the problems she has in her physical life. She was so burdened with her financial challenges that she could not see past them. Her house had no gas. But the gas company put her gas back on. The house had no water, or something or other. The water company apparently gave her water again. But her electricity was still off, and she could not pay her bill to get it back on.
Because I work with the homeless, and with people living in poverty, it is not uncommon for people to share about their lack of electricity. But this woman did not tell me about how she has no heat because she has no electricity. She did not tell me she could not play her radio, or use her television. She did not tell me she could not recharge her phone. She simply told me this. Her house had no light.
And then the Lord moved. Inside her heart. His home. The Lord lives inside those who profess Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. But this woman, though she believes in Jesus Christ, not only did not have light in her house. She had no light in her home. The Lord opened up my spiritual ears to hear what this woman proceeded to tell me, and He showed me what I needed to see not only to pray for her – but to minister to her. For as the woman continued to share her story, she revealed to me the state of her heart.
This woman had no electricity in her heart, in her body, in the place where the Lord dwells. Why? She had turned away from the Lord. She had stopped spending time with Him. She had stopped praying. She had stopped studying the Bible and hearing Him speak. She had stopped doing everything that had been a part of her relationship with the Lord. And, in so doing, she had discovered that the electricity not only had been turned off in her house. It had been turned off in her home. Why? She had stopped paying the bill. Just as the electric company would no longer provide electricity, and thereby light, due to her not paying the bill, the Lord could no longer provide electricity to the inside of her heart and body because she had simply cut Him off. She had cut Him out.
Somewhere in the midst of her story, as I have a way of doing, I interrupted her. I shared with her what the Lord had shown me. But I really didn’t need to. Because as she had shared her heart with me in the presence of the Lord, the Lord Himself had revealed the truth to His daughters – to both of us.
And, as I have such a burden to do with the world, I responded to her by telling her what she needed to do. So simple. So God. She needed to return to the Lord. She needed to repent. She needed to go before the Lord, to confess her sin, to seek and receive His forgiveness, and to come back to Him. But this was not all I told her.
I told her that just as she needs to pay her electric bill to keep the electricity and light on in her house, she needs to make a daily commitment – and follow through – in her relationship with the Lord. Spend time with Him. Study His Word. Pray to Him. Go to church. Immerse herself in the Body of Christ, and surround herself with sisters in Christ to minister to her, to encourage her, to pray for her, to help her see when she needs to make changes, etc.
As we sat in the sanctuary, and as I felt our time together was coming to a close, I encouraged her to stay in the sanctuary and spend some time with the Lord. Repenting.
I have no idea what will happen with the electricity in her house. I did not offer to help her find a way to pay her bill. Because I knew, above all else, that her issue was not truly about a house with no light. It was about the lack of light inside of her because of how she had walked away from the Lord. I trust, and believe, that if she comes back to the Lord and stays in an ongoing, committed relationship with Him, and seeks Him and follows Him, that her other issues will be resolved.
I wish I could say that I rarely meet people who lives in houses with no light. Tragically, I meet people without light all the time. If the truth be known, I have met people from all walks of life with no light. Not just the homeless. Not just the poor. I have met people living in mansions with their electricity on who still have no light. There is only one true light who is the light of this world. His name is Jesus, and He is available to all those who call on His name.
I have lived so much of my life without His light. But now He shines in me. And I would love nothing more when it comes to the world around me to not only be a shining light, but to help the world discover how to find the light of this world. And, for those who have found Him but turned away and found themselves in darkness once again, I would like to remind them that His light is burning bright.
Won’t you come home?
I ENCOURAGE YOU to check in with the Lord on the status of your electricity. If you do not know the Lord, are you ready to meet the Light of the World? If you have met Him but have not truly formed a personal, intimate, ongoing relationship with Him, are you ready to do just that? If you have met Him but walked away from Him, are you ready to come home to Him? If you would like prayer, encouragement, and help in doing any of this, please do not hesitate to call me at 843-338-2219 or e-mail me at love@walkbyfaithministry.com. God bless you!!!!!
Joh_8:12 KJV “Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.”