Light of the World

This morning, I had a weepy morning in church. It wasn't sad weepy, it was just falling at the feet of God weepy. I felt the enormous power of God and His Holy Spirit (the Spirit of Truth) while singing the great Steve Fee song Glory to God.

See, I often mistake my fears for other feelings, but when I name them and bring them to the Lord, I begin the process of eliminating them. I was kneeling at the altar and it struck me that God is so incredibly powerful. And when we were singing "He wraps himself in light, and darkness tries to hide and trembles at his voice," I was overwhelmed by how big of a force I have on my side. There is so much evil and danger in the world and it can seep into your consciousness and poison your entire outlook. But those dangers, evils, darknesses tremble at His voice.

Our pastor gave a wonderful sermon that was so encouraging to me. He read from Exodus when the Israelites are leaving Egypt and he leads them into the desert. During the day, there is a cloud that protects them from the sun and during the night, a pillar of fire stands watch, bringing light and safety with it. Pastor Kase pointed out how some people will wonder where is OUR pillar of fire? Where is our direction and light? Well, the answer is found in John: Jesus says, "I am the light of the world; he who follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life." And in this way, God has provided us with the same almighty pillar of fire: in the form of JESUS. And when we follow and let him lead us, we are provided with the direction and safety that the Israelites received from the pillar of fire and cloud that accompanied them.

So to recap, before the sermon, I was weeping about how powerful God was that darkness, which I fear, trembles at His voice and then after the sermon, I was weeping about how thankful I am that the light of the world is my savior.

What a great Sunday morning!