PSALM 119:105-107

Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path. I have taken an oath and confirmed it, that I will follow your righteous laws. I have suffered much; preserve my life, Lord, according to your word.

TO PONDER

As a child (from ages 8 to 11) I lived on a farm without electricity and running water. We had a wooden stove, carried water from the tank outside up the steps into the house, used kerosene lamps for light at night and used a thunder box (dunny) about 30 metres from the house. If we needed to go to the toilet at night time it was a matter of taking a hurricane lamp and heading by ourselves out to the thunder box in the dark.

For those familiar with a hurricane lamp, it gives light in all directions, not like a torch which you can direct in a particular direction. So, to see where you were going in the dark, you had to hold the lamp close to the path. Without the lamp, there was no way we would be going outside to the toilet and we would end up having a very uncomfortable night. So, when the psalmist says that God’s word to us enlightens where we walk along the path of life, I can really relate to that. We usually understand this verse in terms of God’s word (Bible) giving us the guidance we need to live each day in a way that is in accordance with God’s will and purpose for us.

But I would like to pick up on the point that without the light that God provides, we won’t start at all on our journey with God, but stay in the comfort and security of where we currently are – just like us kids in our farmhouse all those years ago. The though of following where God is calling us to go and do what He is calling us to do can be scary, just like children (and even adults) are scared to go out into the dark at night. If a parent comes with us with a powerful light, we can feel secure enough to go out in the dark. For us, that parent is our Heavenly Father, and that powerful light is God’s promise to go with us and guide us along the way. We then have the security to go where God is calling us, not being afraid because we are safely in God’s care with His Spirit to guide us.

The other thing I love about the Bible is all the stories about ordinary people being called by God to go with Him, but pulling back because of their fears. And God so tenderly and patiently working with them to overcome their fears and they ending up doing wonderfully powerful things with God.

Prayer: Heavenly Father, thank you for all the promises you have given us in Your Word, the Bible, that you will always be with us. Thank you for the ways you work in our lives to overcome our fears and take our hand to lead us in doing exciting things with you. Amen

Today's devotion written by Charles Bertelsmeier, LifeWay Epping