Lessons: Candles & Sweet Tea

My son surprised me with a beautiful, delicious smelling pumpkin candle the other night. He made me go through the whole routine of closing my eyes while he placed it in my hands. Did I mention in the midst of all the presenting that he bumped my tea glass and doused me a good bit? And I managed to keep my eyes shut through it all! After he cleaned up the mess, with much anticipation, I was finally able to open my eyes and accept my surprise with glee. I could hardly wait to get it lit. Oh! The wonderful aroma that wafted through the room...as the tiny flame danced about cheerfully splashing light here and there.

There are some days in life when it's just hard to put one foot in front of the other; it's hard to see the way. Why? Simply because life happens. Whether it be relationships, finances, sickness, loss or a number of other issues. In these times of darkness, when it's hard to see, when we question, doubt, fear, second-guess God's timing, etc., we have one assurance: the Lord will bring light to our darkness. It might be dark at the present...but He WILL bring light.

Psalm 18:28, "For thou wilt light my candle: the LORD my God will enlighten my darkness."

Often times we try to fix it ourselves. I know I do. We try to stay strong, keep going, out-run the darkness, have faith, trust in God, and so forth. You know, all the things that the heart knows to do. Yet at times, in certain seasons, we'll inevitably find ourselves in dark times when we're weak and can't do a single thing but WAIT upon the Lord. Only He can bring light to our darkness. When He does it, I'd like to think He doesn't only bring the light, but a sweet aroma, like my candle. 

You see, even with my eyes closed, I cannot help but to notice and enjoy the delicious pumpkin fragrance when the candle is lit. That's the way the Lord works. Not only does He bring light to our situations, He goes beyond the call of duty and blesses us with His sweet presence...and I'll say without hesitation, there's nothing better than enjoying and sensing the presence of the Lord.

During times of darkness, those times when we have to learn to wait upon the Lord to bring light to our dark spots; let us wait patiently, hoping only upon Him - the One who can turn our darkness into light, who can turn our mourning into laughter, who can transform our doubt into faith and turn our weaknesses into strengths...He won't be content to leave us like He found us. Even if we find ourselves sitting in the dark with our eyes closed as he gently cleans up our sweet-tea-stickiness mishaps...He will make us to shine again and we'll once again emit the beautiful aroma of His presence - a testimony that others won't be able to deny. 

Close your eyes, hold out your hands and wait for God to bring light to your darkness. Can you sense His presence?