What do you Reflect?
This past summer, because of all of the fun activities going on, different members of our family traveled at different points which meant we were separated a ton and truthfully... we were feeling it. One of the greatest results of our family always living far from extended family is that our little unit is pretty tight. What that means is that when someone is gone, everyone agrees that it feels like there’s a big hole in our family.
Well, this summer magnified that hole when 4 weeks in a row went by where someone wasn’t at home. I can remember going to tuck one of my kids into bed the night before Steve and I left for a trip and when I leaned in to give them a kiss, I realized that they had tears on their cheek. We talked for a minute and that child expressed that they wished the 6 of us weren't going to be separated again… and my heart sank. I thought for a minute and after remembering a principle I had learned years ago, I pushed open the curtains next to their bed and told them to look up at the moon. It was glorious that night, shining bright and lighting up the entire sky. I told my child that each night they were to open up their curtains and look up at the moon, and I promised to do the same. I reminded them that the moon they looked at every night would be the same moon I saw when I looked up into the sky, no matter where I was. Whether we were together or separate we could feel close because at night we would both look up to the sky and see the same beautiful moon.
Did you know that there’s really no such thing as 'moonlight'? The moon often gets all the credit for the beauty it casts into the sky, but when you dig down deep, you realize that the moon doesn’t produce its own light at all but rather serves as a brilliant reflector of the sun! God designed the moon with such intention that when the sun has rotated to the other side of the earth, we still have its light.
Think about it….even when everything else gets dark, because of the reflection of the moon, we still benefit from the sun’s light. We have a fixed reminder in the sky that the sun is always working hard and shining bright, even when we can't see it.
Isn’t that the way that our lives were designed as well? We were intentionally designed not to create our own light to shine into the world, but instead God created us to reflect the SON’s light to the world. In John 8:12 Jesus says “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” When the world around us becomes dark it’s our job to not create our own light, or try to develop a plan for a way to produce light, but we are simply to radiate His light into the dark. This world needs the constant reminder that God is active and at work. Reflecting His light reminds us and everyone around us that even in the darkest times... even when He feels hidden, God is not hiding. Our job is to be HIS brilliant reflector, not so others look at us and comment at how beautiful we are, but so that in everything we do, say, and think, our lives can be a bright reflection of Him.
So tonight, go outside and look up. Take time after your busy day to soak up the moon and the incredible light it casts into the sky. Remind yourself that just because you can't see the sun, doesn't mean it's not shining. While you do take time to remember that no matter how dark your circumstances seem, how busy life is, or how lonely you may feel, His light is constant and unchanging and most importantly, His light brings LIFE. Now go, and REFLECT Him with all you've got!