Lighthouses in the Dark

 

I have a habit of collecting spiral bound notebooks.  I don't collect them because I just love paper, but because I use them to write important information.  I always use one to write my church notes and I have another I keep near my bed specifically for recording dreams.  I have another one that I  use for ministry ideas and brainstorming and one that I write sermons in.  These little notebooks that line my self are my lighthouses... When I get in dark places, moments of doubt, insecurity, wavering faith, or even just flat out weariness.. I can go back to these notebooks and get reminders of what God has spoken to me through the years.  I can see things He's shown me in dreams and visions that haven't manifested yet.

Just like real lighthouses, these little notebooks and the treasures in them shed light on subjects and seasons of my life.  When I need direction, I can go back and flip the pages to see what God has spoken about specific prayers, people, opportunities, and times.  I can flip the pages and be reminded of specific and very personal promises God has made me.  I can look back at situations that I've walked through and not go that way again.  I can look back through the books and see my growth, my deliverance, my victories, my pruning, forgiveness, and struggles.

There are so many treasures and gems in these little books!  As we come to the end of 2016 I am taking time to look back at these lighthouses and I can see how God illuminated my path throughout the year.  Psalm 119:105 says

Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.

It has been an incredible journey and each step of the way, His word has been that light and that lamp. I moved to Florida at His word, I applied for specific jobs at His word, and even turned down certain job offers at His leading and guiding.  I truly had to acknowledge Him in all of my ways and every area of my life.  Even as I am seeking instructions for 2017 I haven't gotten much by way of specific instruction, just some things about the next season.  I don't get the details, just the basics in the beginning and the details come as I walk the path.  Sometimes the beam is on high and I can see a good distance ahead, other times its like walking by solar light along a garden path.. I walk from post to post.

No matter what the setting on the beam at the moment, I know I can depend on that light and God's direction.  He's never let me down and hasn't left me alone to fumble in the dark.  In times when I felt there was darkness and I couldn't see my way, God was calling me to raise my  faith and to place one foot in front of the other on the path He's laid out for me.  Sometimes those are the hardest parts to walk out, but the most rewarding.  Although I didn't require a Damascus Road experience, I can imagine what Saul felt like while he was hearing those things that nobody saw.

All of those glimpses God gives us, the words He declares over us, and the promises He gives us for our personal lives are like that.  I always keep in mind that nobody else hears the conversations you have with God, nobody else is there when He gives you crazy instructions and when you give Him your yes.  Sometimes those little glimmers of light in the notebooks are the only reminders that you're not crazy.  Habakkuk 2:2-3 said it best...

Write the vision
And make it plain on tablets,
That he may run who reads it.
For the vision is yet for an appointed time;
But at the end it will speak, and it will not lie.
Though it tarries, wait for it;
Because it will surely come,
It will not tarry.

If you find yourself in a dark place, if you're weary in waiting and well-doing, or if you just feel lost... grab those lighthouses. Remember that the vision God gave you is for an appointed time, not always our timing but in His time, it will come to pass.  Ask God to help your unbelief. Write your vision, post it up on the wall if you have to, but remind yourself of what He said.