This little light of mine I'm gonna let it shine
Angie Dicken recently mentioned to her street team that she would like to have a Facebook Party that would call attention to LIGHT during this Autumn season. Autumn is a time when we experience diminishing daylight hours and we're also reminded of the pagan practices, or darkness, that many associate with Halloween. Angie asked if any of us would want to do a blog post that would focus on finding LIGHT in the darkness and also inform people about her Facebook Party. I was excited to do this but the spots filled quickly and Sunday was one of the few dates left. I normally don't do a blog post on Sunday but the more I thought about it, the better I liked it! What better day could I have? Sunday...the day that many of us worship is actually the perfect time to talk about seeking the LIGHT instead of choosing the darkness!
I'm excited to host Angie today and I hope that you will join her for some fun at her Facebook party on Tuesday, October 29th. The links for joining the party and checking out the other participating blogs can be found at the end of this post.
How To Find Light in Dark Seasons
When I wrote about graverobbers in The Yellow Lantern, I’m thankful to say that the subject did NOT grow from a place of personal experience. But, I discovered that the areas where Josie Clay found light amidst all her dark circumstances were not uncommon to the places I’ve found while walking through seasons of darkness.
During this festive time of traipsing around at night, hiding behind masks, and begging and tricking, the brightness of candles and lights and glow sticks steal the shadowy show. Light is brightest against darkness…actually, if we pay close attention, God has placed beacons of light for us to grow in before darkness even creeps in. The Yellow Lantern offers three beacons I have found to be light-bearing in my own dark seasons:
#1: Friendship
Josie Clay finds friendship in a way that gives her fuel to seek a way out of the darkness. She becomes connected with a community during her dark dealings. In my own dark seasons, God provided His light to shine through the friendships that had grown before the darkness, but perhaps, for my own protection in the nearing darker seasons. Just as Proverbs 17:17 says,
“A friend loves at all times,
and a brother is born for a time of adversity.”
The Yellow Lantern is dedicated to my Proverbs 17:17 sisters. God grew us for community. I don’t know that I would have found much light in my dark seasons without those friends He had provided for me.
#2 Gifting
Whether you are an artist or a servant at heart, another place to discover light in the darkness is in the very gifting God has uniquely placed upon you. Josie is an herbalist. She finds her greatest passion and joy in creating remedies for those in need. I am an author—I find my greatest passion and joy spill out as I write. And it’s not just for my own pleasure. It’s a much-needed gifting that points me to light no matter how much darkness brews around me.
“Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.” (James 1:17)
If He’s given us these gifts, then we have what it takes to find light in a dark situation. Good and perfect and ever chasing away those shadows.
#3 Faith
There have been seasons in my life where I feel like faith is this thin, fragile thread. At any moment, it might snap. But it doesn’t. Scripture gives us a hint as to why it might be stronger than I imagine:
“Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.” (Hebrews 11:1)
Faith, in itself, is a light. It might not chase the darkness away, we might not see any light at all, but Faith provides the assurance that something IS there beyond the dark. Josie Clay makes some choices without knowing that she will ever leave the darkness, but faith gives her the confidence to do so. Of all the beacons God gives us in our dark seasons, Faith might be the most abstract and at times, hidden, but it is the most assured place of everlasting light.
Have you recently leaned into one of these three beacons to shine light in a dark season?
Join us for bookish fun, giveaways, and games at the Let Your Light Shine Event on October 29th. Click here to RSVP!
About the Author
Angie Dicken credits her love of story to reading British literature during life as a military kid in England. Now living in the U.S. heartland, she's a member of ACFW, sharing about author life with her fellow Alley Cats on The Writer's Alley blog and Facebook page. Besides writing, she is a busy mom of four and works in Adult Ministry. Angie enjoys eclectic new restaurants, authentic conversation with friends, and date nights with her Texas Aggie husband.
Angie’s Books:
Blog Tour Schedule
(click on the blog name to visit that page)
Oct. 22: Joy of Reading
CLICK HERE to join the Facebook party on Tue. Oct. 29th!
ABOUT THE BOOK
