Shine Through Me

I’m not trying to be all Joseph Smith about it, but sometimes God speaks to me in weird ways. Not on gold plates, but it has happened on metal license plates - a story for another day. He's also used my dog to teach me truths - dog is just God spelled backwards, you know. And while historically not having been much of a fan of Apples since Eve's day, I believe God is getting quite adept at speaking through my iPod.

[pause - to allow time for Mac users to admire my geeky joke]

As silly or heretical as it might sound, I’m not kidding. God knows how much I enjoy writing and music, so I think He often uses song lyrics when He wants to communicate with me, knowing I am more surrendered in those moments than anywhere else. I have had so many experiences that began by me asking God questions or begging for confirmation mere seconds before a lyric generally, or more often extremely specifically, answered me.

One of my favorite memories was in regards to the scripture from Isaiah 60:1 – Arise, shine for your light has come and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you. That verse had been playing on repeat for weeks. It sprang up and out of everything I heard and read. The words Arise and Shine echoed everywhere around me. I knew it had to be a God thing. I believe God gave me that scripture because it descriptively spoke to what I had begun to desire and seek: God's empowerment and a holy boldness to actively go forth and shine for Him.

Anyway, one day I was walking into a situation that made me nervous. It involved a person I had always found to be extremely intimidating. The old me more than likely would have avoided the entire scene. But this time I didn’t run away.

Now, I’ve heard many Christians say, “God told me …” over the years, but I never quite understood how they could be certain it was God speaking without literally hearing a voice that sounded like Charlton Heston. All I know is at that moment, I was sure in a way I can’t quite explain, God gave me some advice which helped my heart conclude what my brain had been unable to put to words: God could make me shine.

As I approached Scary Person, I began to silently repeat a prayer for God to “shine through me, shine through me…” And as silly as it might sound, it worked. I instantly felt more at ease than I can ever remember being in a situation such as this. The negative voices normally found residing in my noggin were drowned out by the edifying thud of the scripture’s simple but weighty statement. I was not necessarily confident in myself, but I was confident of God in me.

I felt such faith in that small prayer because I think it might be the purest of prayers I have ever prayed. I believed that asking God to shine through me was the kind of prayer that would be answered without hesitation. I also knew that if God was shining through me, others would see it and respond to that light. And if for some reason they didn't, then they were really rejecting God and not me, which took off quite a bit of pressure.

Since that experience I’ve continued to exhale that same silent plea for God to shine when walking into any awkward situation. And He does. And the response has been amazing.

I was overjoyed at the effectiveness of this revelation, so I told several people about it. One particular friend's response was to look at me rather oddly. I assume he thought I had gone crazy - or else he just had an eyelash in his eye - I can’t be quite sure. But as my brain is prone to do when given such a reception, it galloped off into Doubtville, quenching my previous confidence. Was this scripture truly for me? Was this concept of shining really from God? Or was I just losing my mind?

I went into church service with my thoughts playing mental Pong, but as the worship band kicked off, God rocked it out. The first song they played was Arise. I smirked a little at the coincidence. The band ended with a song called Shine. The smirk turned into a big grin. As they reached the final chorus of the song and sang out, “Holy, holy, holy Lord, shine through me!” I threw my head back and laughed.

God confirming scripture. God confirming truth. God making me giggle. And me - falling more and more in love with a God who can speak so sweetly.