Read Ephesians 6:1-20 1 Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. 2 “Honor your father and mother” — which is the first commandment with a promise— 3 “that it may go well with you and that you may enjoy long life on the earth.” 4 Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord. 5 Slaves, obey your earthly masters with respect and fear, and with sincerity of heart, just as you would obey Christ. 6 Obey them not only to win their favor when their eye is on you, but like slaves of Christ, doing the will of God from your heart. 7 Serve wholeheartedly, as if you were serving the Lord, not men, 8 because you know that the Lord will reward everyone for whatever good he does, whether he is slave or free. 9 And masters, treat your slaves in the same way. Do not threaten them, since you know that he who is both their Master and yours is in heaven, and there is no favoritism with him. 10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11 Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. 13 Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. 14 Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 15 and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 16 In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17 Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. 18 And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints. 19 Pray also for me, that whenever I open my mouth, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, 20 for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should.

Early one morning, I was trying to get some extra sleep, but the light peeking through the blinds was just too bright. It became impossible to ignore, so I got up, tried to adjust the blinds and return to my slumber. It was futile. I was already awake. Instead of going back to bed, I threw open the blinds and let the sunlight flood the room.

While camping with my family one day, I thought back to that radiant light and its contrast to a dark world. It had been too late to secure a spot at the state park, so we ended up at a private campground. The other campers seemed pleasant and friendly in the light of day, but as night grew darker we quickly discovered that we had pitched our tent in the middle of a party zone. The drinking, drugs, and foul language continued well pass midnight. We called security several times, with no success. Unable to pack up in the dark, we decided to stay until morning. With dawn approaching, those who had been loud and bold in the darkness retreated to their tents.

The next morning as we packed, I was tired and angry. But I was uncertain about the object of my anger. I hadn’t even seen the faces of those who had offended me. The trip seemed to be a disaster, but God used that foiled weekend to show me a scriptural truth: “We do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places” (Ephesians 6:12). My heart was moved, acknowledging that the only remedy for a dark world is the light of Jesus. It would have been pointless for me to show anger or bitterness to those who had caused us to lose sleep. Their behavior had been prompted by the evil one who had spiritual darkened their hearts and eyes. So, instead of asking why people behaved so wrongly, my question became: How am I reflecting God’s light to them?

We can try to adjust the blinds or retreat to our tents, but hopefully, light will seep through - not allowing us to rest in our complacency. Let’s rise, throw open the blinds, and permit His rays to shine in every corner of our lives. And may we courageously reflect that light to a lost world.
-Rebecca Faulkner-

Responding - Do I reflect God’s light at my workplace / school?
Following - Be bold to resist evil.

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