Flickering Torches
For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us. We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies. For we who live are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. . . So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. . . All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.” - excerpts from 2 Corinthians 4:6-5:20
Christ has shone in our hearts! In my heart; that is the light I am called to share with the world. It is in that joy, that hope, that I am to follow my Shepherd's endurance. And when I doubt, when my jar of clay looms large, God graciously gives me the Hall of Faith - Hebrews 11, life accounts of Christians through the ages, each of your lives, and, most intimately, my family: all jars of clay through whom I have more clearly and intimately been given the knowledge of the glory of God.
I thank God for this nuanced, beautiful view of his glory. I pray for each of us as we seek and obey his specific callings in our lives; as his light goes to our families and neighbors, our city and to the world. How has he called me to yield my flickering torch?
Let us join Jon and Jo Ellis in prayer as they go to teach English in refuge camps in the Middle East;
Let us join Greg and Ingrid Orr in prayer and finances as they go to Berlin with Pioneer;
Let us join with Gracehill as we pray for our city;
Let us join Grace’s Table and Safe Haven as, in Jesus' name, they minister to Grand Rapids;
Let us join our children as they learn and grow in faith;
And let us not lose heart as we are renewed daily by the grace and power of the Holy Spirit in Christ Jesus!
O Light that follow'st all my way,
I yield my flick’ring torch to thee;
my heart restores its borrowed ray,
that in thy sunshine’s blaze its day
may brighter, fairer be.
O Cross that lilftest up my head,
I dare not ask to fly from thee;
I lay in dust life’s glory dead,
and from the ground there blossoms red
life that shall endless be.
- stanzas 2 & 4 of O Love, That Wilt Not Let Me Go
Photo by Geert Pieters on Unsplash