Today while enjoying my PATCO ride (wherein I think that my seat became unbolted) I decided that I needed the living, breathing Word of God to permeate the deepest places of my being. So, I opened up my Bible and turned to Matthew 5:14-16, in The Message.
Here’s another way to put it: You’re heare to be light, bringing out the God colors in the world. God is not a secret to be kept. We’re going public with this, as public as a city on a hill. If I make you light-bearers, you don’t think I”m going to hide you under a bucket, do you? I’m putting you on a light stand. Now that I’ve put you there on a hilltop, on a light stand-shine!
This really hit me between the eyes. God placed all of us on earth to be light, to “bring out the God colors in the world.” That says to me that my life is supposed to bring out the best in others. I joke at work that my job is to make everyone look better, to do their jobs better. There are days that this is a pleasure. When I enjoy everyone who is in the office. When I feel good about myself, about my job. There are days when it is excruciatingly difficult to make people look better. Like when I believe that I’ve been wronged. Like when I didn’t get enough sleep the night before. Like when I’ve not had my daily allotment of espresso.
That scripture called me to account. Because I feel like God has me hidden away, in an obuscure place. I know that He is building character. I know that He is tearing out and cleaning up the broken places. I know that He is at work. God is building patience into me…something that grows sparsely in my garden of spiritual gifts. God is building perseverance in me…again, something missing from the bouquet of spritual gifts, a gift that I’ve not chosen to cultivate.
I think I’m onto something. I think that perhaps I’ll begin a study of the fruit of the Spirit. If you care to join me, check back soon.
Deneen White 
He is building character in you. Thanks for the encouragement. Perseverance is a fruit, it is patience–taught through trials.
We started a Fruit of the Spirit meme. I just wrote about patience. Come over and join us. Its a great study. You can write whatever you want on any fruit or answer seven question prompts.
Blessings.
I will definitely check out your blog!
Thanks for the comment…character building it is.
Have a wonderful day, and I’ll ‘see” you on the other site 🙂
~Deneen
Deneen, I just have to share one of my daily devotionals with you. It so applies to each & every one of us.
“Listening to God’s Voice”
“God has no use for the prayers of the people who won’t listen to Him” Proverbs 28:9
Sometimes God speaks loudly and clearly. More often He speaks in a quiet voice, and if you’re wise, you’ll be listening carefully when He does. But to do so, you must set aside quiet moments each day to sense His directions. Can you quiet yourself long enough to listen to His voice? Are you attuned to the subtle guidance of your intuition? Are you willing to pray sincerely and then to wait quietly for God’s response? Hopefully so, because He doesn’t usually send messages on stone tablets or city billboards. He communicates in subtler ways. If you sincerely desire to hear His voice, you must listen carefully, in the silent corners of your quiet, willing heart.
Wait before the Lord. Wait in stillness. And in that stillness, assurance will come to you. You will know that you are heard; you will know that your Lord ponders the voice of your humble desires. Quote from Amy Carmichael
After reading this, my question to myself was.. how many times have I been waiting for God to help me or give me a “sign” in some “huge” way and I ignored those “small” subtle messages that were from Him? Oh, Deneen, we have so much to learn, don’t we?
Thanks for allowing me to talk with you. I so enjoy your blog each day.
Agape, Linda
Linda,
Thank you so much for that comment. Reading it quieted my soul…if that makes any sense at all.
Something I know that I need to do more of is setting aside quiet time to hear God’s still, quiet voice.
Thanks for the reminder, and I’m glad that you enjoy reading my blog. Somedays I wonder if I am more discouraging than encouraging…but maybe that makes me human 🙂
Have a wonderful weekend!
~Deneen