Introduction
We all face ‘storms’, they are inevitable in life. What matters is how we prepare ourselves beforehand in order to live through them and emerge on the other side.
In each challenging situation we face, the test for us is the same: how will we stand? Only a full assurance of who our God is and who He has called us to be through Jesus’ blood will enable us to stand strong in Him as well as reach out an arm offering the certain hope of the gospel to others who are floundering.
These storms and challenges offer us real opportunities to shine the Light of Life we carry in our hearts. But it will not shine if our foundation is unstable and we do not know the nature, promises, character and faithfulness of our covenant-keeping God. These things are the true hope of the gospel the people around us need, too.
Some years ago, I found a photograph of a lighthouse standing strong in the midst of an angry swirling sea. The waves were so high they reached half-way up the side of the building. When I looked more closely, I could see the lighthouse keeper standing in the doorway with his arms folded and every appearance of calm and peace. This image really spoke to me and since then I have been taken on a journey with God which I now share with you in Walking with God Through the Storm.
Please have a Bible or Bible app, and a notebook and pen, handy as you go through this devotional.
Sarah Winbow
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The Lighthouse
Read Exodus 33:12-23; Matthew 5:14-16.
I have a fascination with lighthouses! This probably stems from the fact that I was born and raised at the seaside. The literal meaning of the word ‘lighthouse’ is ‘fire tower’ and for centuries this is exactly what they were. Lighthouses tend to be constructed on solid rock and deliberately strong enough to withstand whatever severity of storm and sea-lashings the ocean throws up. Their light shines for the full 24 hours but it is only visible during the hours of darkness or the confusion of thick fog. The lighthouse’s over-riding purpose at that time is to shine a light and sound a loud warning to prevent ships being wrecked and lives lost.
The lighthouse’s over-riding purpose is to shine a light and sound a loud warning to prevent ships being wrecked and lives lost.
Whenever I mention the subject of lighthouses, people tend to immediately focus on the light; but the truth is that without the careful construction of the tower itself - its foundation on the rock, the internal steps and different levels built gradually from ground-level upwards - the lighthouse would not be able to do its essential work.
In 2012 a small group of us spent part of a week on retreat on Lundy Island. On the evening before we were taken off the island, I climbed to the top of the old, abandoned lighthouse and stood on the former lamp platform. I was alone and simply began to worship God. As I did so, I became aware of something like smoke hovering around and above my head. It being February and cold, I tested whether this was just my breath, but it persisted even when I stopped singing.
A friend walked up to join me from the harbour and as he arrived, he told me to quickly put the light out because it could be a distraction to shipping. He could see that I didn’t have a torch or any other source of light. It seems that as I gave myself unreservedly in worship to God and rededicated myself to be a beacon and fire-igniter for His Kingdom, He had supernaturally lit me up as a fire tower!
We will begin by ensuring we have a strong foundation built solidly on Jesus the Rock.
My friend just happened to have two candles and matches in his breast pocket (as you do!) so we placed the candles on the lamp platform and lit them. We felt they represented the whole ‘house of Israel’: Jews and the Gentile Church. What happened next took us both by surprise. Through the magnification of the glass in the windows of the lamp room, we saw these two tiny lights spread outwards, not only across the whole island, but further across the Bristol Channel into the South West, Wales and beyond towards the Irish Sea. There were literally hundreds upon hundreds of lights, so many it was impossible to count them.
On that extraordinary evening, the Lord used these supernatural events to begin teaching me the profound prophetic symbolism of the lighthouse. Over the next few weeks, we will unpack this teaching together. We will begin by ensuring we have a strong foundation built solidly on Jesus the Rock. Then we will move gradually through the construction of the lighthouse until eventually we reach the lamp room and the light itself.
The end-result will be that the world around us will not only see the strength of His burning glory shining in us, but also come to understand that Jesus is their light and hope, too.
This is necessarily a step-by-step process, but if we want His burning light to shine brightly through us as we face one of the most uncertain and stormy seasons the world and the Church have ever experienced, we need to pay careful attention to how we build. If we miss even one step, then what is built will be faulty and therefore liable to subsidence or collapse. We need to nurture patience and allow Him to so build Himself in us and us in Him, that He not only becomes our firm foundation but also our strong tower; a living breathing reality literally burning in our heart.
Only then will we be able to remain strong, stable and secure through the fierceness of the storm. The end-result will be that the world around us will not only see the strength of His burning glory shining in us, but also come to understand that Jesus is their light and hope, too.
Additional reading: John 11:9; Acts 26:17-18; 2 Corinthians 3:7-18.
His will is for us to shine with His light and burn with His glory through the storms we face. Express your willingness to allow God to do whatever He needs to do in you to make you the person you need to be.
Other devotionals in this series can be accessed here.
