Did you make tents inside as a kid? The number of times my sister and I searched the house for every bedsheet, blanket, and sleeping bag to build the best tent is countless. The air circulation problem was never resolved, but the fun part was getting all cozy inside the tent and clicking on a flashlight. Inside, the tent was dark without light sneaking in cracks between blankets. The flashlight shined up to the top of the tent to serve as the backdrop for silly hand shadow puppets and shined in the crevasses I could not see in the dark. When I clicked on the flashlight, I invited the light into the dark space of the tent. I asked the light to show me what I could not see.

Do you have a flashlight that clicks on in your life? What helps you see truth in fear, chaos, or uncertainty? Some options coming to mind are wisdom from a grandparent, moral truth that feels good, consensus from friends, messages from a political platform or influencer.

My consistent flashlights are the words of God, family, and close friends. It’s easy to run to family or friends for truth and clarity because they audibly speak back and their facial expressions really seal the deal for me. The shocked eyebrow raises, or body cringes could soften their delivery to me, but then I may move forward with an insane decision and not heed their well-intended feedback. Hard truth sometimes is only heard through a strong delivery. And to add to it, I’m hard-headed, so loud messages help!

The flashlight I have grown to rely on the most is the words of God. This one is clicked on, shining bright full-time where the battery never loses juice, thank goodness. The words of God have a way of finding all the crevasses where cobwebs form in my life that I do not know are there. Just as God is cleaning out the cobwebs of insecurity or prejudices in my life, He shows me another one later around the corner. This flashlight of the Bible also shows me really good things like hope in eternity, the steadfast love of Jesus, and His saving grace from all my dark cobwebs.

Being in the dark without a flashlight is scary as a kid. Heck, drop me in the woods after sunset without a light and my heartbeat is pulsing in my ears. However, what scares me more is choosing not to grab the flashlight of the words of God and fumble in the dark alone.

So, what is your flashlight?

SCRIPTURE REFERENCES

No one lights a lamp and puts it in a place where it will be hidden, or under a bowl. Instead, they put it on its stand, so that those who come in may see the light. Your eye is the lamp of your body. When your eyes are healthy, your whole body also is full of light. But when they are unhealthy, your body also is full of darkness. See to it, then, that the light within you is not darkness. Therefore, if your whole body is full of light, and no part of it dark, it will be just as full of light as when a lamp shines its light on you.

Luke 11:33-36

He said to them, “Do you bring in a lamp to put it under a bowl or a bed? Instead, don’t you put it on its stand? For whatever is hidden is meant to be disclosed, and whatever is concealed is meant to be brought out into the open.

Mark 4:21-22