Susan Seymore lives in Damascus, VA with her husband, John. She is mother to four and grandmother to seven. As prayer coordinator, she strives to lead women at First Baptist Church Damascus into a deeper spiritual relationship with Jesus Christ. With a bachelor’s degree in business management and a master’s degree in career and technical education, she served as program manager for the Mount Rogers Regional Adult Education Program for seven counties in Southwest Virginia before retiring in 2011. Because of God’s amazing provision, compassion, and presence during the recent tragic death of her son, Susan’s focus is now directed toward encouraging women of every age to draw closer to the abiding love of Christ—the only glue we can count on to hold us together when the world comes crashing down.
After several days of sub-freezing temperatures in Southwest Virginia, the morning broke with invigorating warmth as the sun’s rays penetrated my frosty soul. I was drawn to that light as moths are drawn to a flame. The sunlight hit my face, and I relaxed and quickly forgot about the cold, dark, overcast skies that had sapped my energy on previous mornings.
The coldness that saps our energy on these wintry mornings can be alleviated by layering and by using artificial light. However, there is another coldness that is not so easily alleviated – where the Light has been turned off. We hesitate to turn on the news… Another horrific shooting. Wars that devastate a whole population. Earthquakes, hurricanes, and tsunamis that leave devastation behind. Children who are indoctrinated by worldly culture and temptations. Pandemics. Substance abuse. Hopelessness… Darkness!!! Would someone please turn on the light??!!!
God sees. God knows. God is the keeper of the Light. His son is the Light. He is the Light whose heart breaks when one of His broken creation feels compelled to kill multiple people and then turn the weapon on himself. He is the Light whose heart breaks when He sees a whole nation destroyed by a power-hungry tyrant. He is the Light when lives are lost, and many are left homeless by storms that hit with fury. He is the Light when pandemics, substance abuse and hopelessness rob His children of any desire to continue living. He is the Light… His heart breaks… His eyes “run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show himself strong on the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward Him. Herein thou hast done foolishly: therefore, from hence forth thou shalt have wars.:” (II Chronicles 16:9) Would someone please turn on the Light??!!!
We are told in Galatians 2:20 that “It is Christ Light who lives in me.” In Romans 8:10, “Christ in you.” In II Corinthians 4:6-7, “But we have this treasure in earthen vessels…” Like the warm rays of the sun invigorated my spirit and erased any semblance of frostiness in my physical body, the Light that resides within each of us can do the same not only for us but also for the masses around us who are stumbling around in the darkness. Who will turn on the Light??? Will it be me? Will it be you? What if we do it together and so amp up the wattage?
“The whole world was lost in the darkness of sin,
The Light of the world is Jesus!
Like sunshine at noonday, His glory shone in;
The Light of the world is Jesus.”
The Light that is within you is not meant to be contained. It is meant to be shared! WE can dispel the cold darkness around us! Aim the warm rays from His light at the frosty soul of the one God places in your path. Turn on your Light!!!
(“The Light of the World is Jesus” by Philip P. Bliss)
