Update #160 - Light Blindness

“My soul follows close behind you; your right hand upholds me.” Psalm 63:8

“You word is a lamp unto my feet and a light to my path…” Psalm 119:105

I was reading through verses I had underlined in Psalms and meditating on them. When I got to “My soul follows close behind you” in Psalm 63 I pictured a huge flame in front of me. Then the verse from Psalm 119 “You word is a lamp unto my feet and a light to my path…” popped into my mind.

This was an epiphany moment. I had wondered how God could be a light unto my path – especially if he was walking ahead or beside me. I was previously puzzled because it didn’t make sense - when people are in line ahead of you they usually block most of the light and sharing it with someone beside you doesn’t always fully illuminate your surroundings.

God, being the person in front of us, isn’t blocking the light, but IS the light! The flame illuminates our feet, lights our path, and dispels darkness! This causes its own set of difficulties. With the light right in our faces, we can’t see much.

Have you ever looked into a bright light? Ya can’t see anything else! When you do look to the right or the left the contrast has everything appear darker than it really is. Psalm 63 states “my soul follows close behind you” – it is as close to the flame of light as it can get; practically engulfed.

As I ruminated over this I thought to myself, well, why not step back a bit from the flame, save your eyes and get a bit of perspective. Stepping back isn’t going to be a detriment; you will still have the illuminated feet, lighted lane, disintegrating darkness, and you can see a bit for yourself. Why do you have to walk so close?

Then it hit me like a 2X4. Intimacy! It’s all about intimacy. The second half of the verse talks about God’s right hand holding us. If we walk too far away from the flame we miss his gentle leading. And the real problem, I think, is we may be able to see too much and panic. When we are close to the flame we just see it and follow – the distractions to the right and left are in the darkness and un-noticed. When we step back from the intense light we see the distractions – not as they really are, but shades of them. We may think they are harmless but they are actually doing their job of pulling us out of, and away from, God’s blazing brilliance.

Basically, we need to stay close to the flame, blinded and blundering in the brilliancy. The farther we pull away to “see” the things around us the more distracted we become and the more the familiarity with the Father fades.

What distracts you from the brilliancy of God? What causes you to step back from being fully engulfed in him? When is the last time you were completely and fully encompassed, blinded by God’s working in your life? What scares you about the darkness? Can you feel God’s right hand leading you?

Updates:

Travel – In a bit over a week I am off to Hong Kong and Seoul! Brett and Lyn are in Whistler, Canada then to Beijing and finally meeting me in South Korea on the 11th. Gareth and his team are mobilizing and “invade” Chennai the same weekend.

Work – LEMON Leadership Forums abound – here and abroad! The rest of us are trying to keep things running and prep for the next training cycle amidst all the craziness!

Personal – Two cars back at the mechanic this week. I nicknamed Lyn’s car “galloping Gertie” because it felt as if you were riding a horse… problem now solved (my stomach thanks you).

Requests:

Travel – Save travel for me, Brett / Lyn and the Chennai team – especially the guys coming from South Africa who are trying to get visas.

Work – For continued forum bookings, book sales, and for our upcoming January training’s roster to fill; also for new cars.

Personal – I was really blessed by my some of my supporters and was able to get some new work clothes (a suit for 40% off!!!). Thank you!

PS – Happy Birthday to Iris, Kimmy, Jodie, Spencer, Don Smith, and to MY MOM!!!