The Flashlight

 

Introduction

You know that my daughter has been having a little vacation from the group home with us this week, right? Uhm, hmm, well, remember yesterday I mentioned that she was dogging my footsteps. I could not turn around for her being right there. I had to make sure and not whirl to do something quickly because if I did, I might bump into her or step on her toe or foot. I think I told you yesterday that she fair wore me out, but what I did not tell you was why. It hit me after I finished my blog and thinking back over our conversation. I still did not put it together until I was talking to my husband later. I told him about her little head trying to nod and her stalwartly fighting sleep and drinking water. I told him that she had said to me, "Momma, I'm keeping you good company ain't I? Get this, folks. That is when he said to me, "That's because I told her to take good care of you." I said, "No wonder she did not want to go to sleep even though her head was bobbing and weaving. You can't say things like that to her because she thinks it means to do just what she was doing."  She thought that she was actually being a big girl and taking care of her Momma. Bless her little heart! It doesn't get much sweeter than that, y'all.

Flashlight

I said that today's blog would use a flashlight in reference to Christian life, and I will still do that, but I am going to use a different application for the same flashlight. I had planned to talk a bit about knowing what you have in your hand in reference to the flashlight and its capability to shine on a wide area for a bigger view or to pinpoint a particular area with intense light. Again, I was going to use the Bible in the application as far as using what you have been equipped with (just knowing about what you have to work with).

But

I decided to use it from an angle with reference to how we sometimes look at situations that we perceive as problems. Now, about the flashlight, I did not know that it had the mechanism on it where you could have a wide circle of light, an intensely bright narrowed stream of light or a flashing strobe light, as for emergencies. Handy tool and it is a little one, too. (could use that application, too, but maybe another time.)

I told you that my daughter dogging my steps was a bother, and I knew that it was going to be a long week. I wondered if she had suffered some ill effects in the group home that had made her be clingy.  I was looking at the small picture of her being a bother under my feet so much. BUT, when my husband explained that he had specifically told her to take care of Momma, that shed more light on the subject. And then guess what? Yes, exactly! The situation was exactly the same but what WAS different about it was that I was looking at the bigger picture and what had seemed to be a problem was actually a sweet blessing of care. Let me explain.

So

You might be thinking that you understand that perfectly well but what has the scenario mentioned in the paragraph immediately above have to do with you. Simple, folks. Don't you see that it is our perception of our problems that can change our state of mind from one of sad resignment to one of hopeful joy? You remember the scripture Romans 8:28, right? That scripture tells us that all things work together for good for those who love the Lord. (KJV) You see, if we love Him, we will trust Him. If we trust Him, then we will know in our hearts that He is working things out for our good. And knowing that ought to stir up that hopeful J.O.Y. in us.

Let me explain further. I heard at a Bible school a cute little ditty that they had made up. The kids sang about J.O.Y. and that J.O.Y. meant Jesus, Others and You. How does that apply in any given situation? Easy, we ought to view everything through the eyes of faith and know that the all things mentioned means things that happen to us because it says for our good. If you really think about it, you will realize how many times in your life that you have had trouble that turned out to be a blessing for you because it strengthened your faith by your having to walk by faith and not being able to figure out just how you were going to get out of said predicament. AND that same predicament helped to strengthen someone else's faith or plant a seed of faith in somebody because they saw your hope and trust in God throughout the predicament. Don't you see? Your problem blessed you and somebody else, too. Maybe several somebodies else.

I Have Determined

This serving God is not just about you. It is about J.O.Y. (Jesus, Others, and You) Since I have learned to change my view about things as they happen in my life, I realize how much better I feel about situations and problems that crop up. Here is what I have determined:

• That when something unpleasant happens in my life, I am going to ask myself, "Okay, now what am I supposed to learn from this? How can this help my Christian walk?"


• Conversely, when something good happens in my life, and I am encouraged by it, to try to find a way to spread that encouragement to my fellowmen.


• To be more than just content, to take it a step further and show the world the joy, content and hope that I have in Him


• to show that I have the hope of glory and that one day, oh-h-h one day, I'll get to join in with other saints, old and new, who have crossed over to the other side to sing majestic praise to the God of Zion!


• That, hopefully, by showing contented determination, I can take somebody with me.

And with that, folks, I will step on down this row that I have been assigned to chop. Y'all have a blessed evening and night.

Doing What I Can, While I Can Because I Care,

Alma L. Grateful Carr-Jones

And those, my friend, are a few lessons learned all from a flashlight that showed us that sometimes, yep, you just have to change your focus.