This Little Light of Mine

It was the last night of my recent missions trip to Nicaragua. After seven days of high heat and strenuous walking, my body was exhausted. I felt relieved to be going back to the “hotel” where we’d stayed all week. The accommodations were one step above an “extreme” missions trip where you camp-out in a foreign country. The experience had challenged me physically and emotionally, but the spiritual rewards had accumulated with each new day.  All the inconvenience and discomfort paled in the joy of knowing 312 people heard the Gospel and 98 put their faith in Christ.

Our transportation, an old mini-bus, kept breaking down. Even on our first full day out from Managua to the hotel, it over-heated. On this Friday night as we made our way down the mountain from the village of Cuajiniquil--a forty-five minute drive over steep, dirt roads with no guard rails in sight--I held on to the sides of my seat as we were jostled around without seat belts one more time.

Suddenly, we found ourselves in complete darkness--except for the starry sky. The head lights had gone out and the driver slammed on his brakes. I immediately reached for the flashlight I’d carried a in my backpack all week, and beamed the light for the driver and our trip leader to see. The driver determined that we’d blown a fuse. We had inside lights, but still no headlights. Now what? One of the members from our twelve person team began to pray for safety as we all continued to wait patiently for the driver to solve the problem. As time went on, I became anxious, plagued with thoughts  like, “How are we going to get off this mountain? We have two river beds to cross over yet. What are we going to do?”  Before coming on this trip, we’d been warned of possible robbery and assault. We’d made it through the week without incident and I was ready to go home to the U.S. But that couldn’t happen until we got off this mountain.

My fear rose within me and I kept praying for safety and peace. Other members of our team got out their flashlights and soon four people crouched at the front of the bus shining their flashlights  onto the road through the windshield. The driver started the engine and slowly crept ahead with only the illumination of the flashlights and stars. But that was enough light to find our way down the mountain and back to the hotel.

As we traveled, someone started to sing the children’s song and we all joined in,

This little light of mine, I’m gonna let it shine,

This little light of mine, I’m gonna let it shine,

Let it shine, let it shine, let it shine.

I realized that if there had only been one flashlight, we would never have made our way safely  to the main road. Only when we pulled together and used all our lights the darkness was dispelled for us to see.

Isn’t that a lesson for all of us? If only one of us shines our light, that’s good, but often not enough. We all need to shine our light, the light of God’s love and the transformation we’ve experienced in our lives. This will dispel the darkness around us and let others see the “Light of the World” in us. Jesus said: “You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven” ( Matthew 5:14-16, NIV).

Let your light shine for Jesus today wherever you go.

Are you allowing the light of God’s love to shine to those around you? Have you joined a fellowship of believers so you can increase the effectiveness of your witness to a dark and sinful world ? Reaffirm with me today: “I’m gonna let it shine!”

Copyright, 2012, Annalee Davis