It is less than a week until Thanksgiving; we thank God for our blessings, and Christmas, soon to be. The season of light is upon us. This is the light that has come into the world so we can ‘see’ even in the deepest darkness.
It has been a dark and dreary week in Virginia. It has been wet, and quite cold. Virginians would like to send the rain to California where it is so badly needed. California could use our rain to calm the fires, and help out the firefighters battling an inferno.
Oh, if wishes were horses and we could fix all the bad things, and set everything right with the world! We feel so helpless at times, and it can be very depressing. There are hurricanes and devastation on the East coast one moment, and fires blazing in California the next.
Scripture reminds us that God is a very present help in time of trouble, and so, He is. When we find ourselves in the darkness, we turn to Him for answers. There is no promise in the bible that there will not be darkness in this world; we only have the promise that Christ has overcome it, and that in him there is no darkness at all!
How marvelous to know that His light is always with us, and that we carry that light within our own hearts. He rescues us from the ashes of pain, heartbreak, fear, and destruction. This bright light shines in the souls who travel up mountains of fire to help people in desperate straits. It shines in the rescue workers, volunteers, and people in every walk of life who lend a helping hand to someone else.
There are enough ashes to go around, and we see the dreams of people go up in smoke. We see the tears in their eyes, and their trembling hands. We know, because we ourselves have known pain and loss. Alone, our grief would be unbearable, but thanks to God, we are never alone in the ash heap.
God can build beautiful things with the ashes in our lives. There is no place in this world where He is not working, doing, being, on our behalf. He binds up the brokenhearted, and restores all that is seemingly lost. He takes our ravaged twigs of disappointment and suffering and crafts them into something new.
Yes, we have so much to be grateful for at Thanksgiving, and every day of the year. The light that has come into the world to save us all is a light that cannot be put out…ever! And we are blessed to carry that light into the world wherever we go and whatever we do.
When we gaze at our Christmas trees this year, or look at our loved ones around the table at Thanksgiving, we must remember the one thing that matters most. We have hope; in the best of times and worst of times, God is always with us.
John 1:5 “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.”
