It started one night and was a little spooky. The lamp on Carol's night stand came on by itself and went off. She had noticed it it once during the day. In the middle of the night, however, it was hard to miss. The lamp went on, got brighter, then went off. It went on and off several times so she nudged me to look at it. "What's going on?" she asked.
I walked around to her side of the bed with the light flickering off all over the place. At two o'clock in the morning this event was a bit beyond fascinating. We both knew it was one of those lamps with a touch-sensory switch that worked through the lamp's metal parts, so I touched the shade, and it went on and off and on again. Why?
"Ah," I thought, and reached over to the knob on top. It was slightly loose. I tightened it, perhaps an eighth of a turn, and the flickering stopped! I tested it and it worked as it should. Amazing! A tiny turn to tighten the knob and the problem was solved. How simple!
The night stand was close to the bed, so the loose knob allowed the lamp to wobble as if someone was touching it. Our flickering electric lamp was not spiritual phenomenon but a physical one. It was a loose connection, not a message from God.
Or was it? When small or large things work loose in our lives, when we no longer living as we know we should be or are as close to God as we once were, our life also may start to flicker. If we don't do something about it, we'll soon find ourselves out of control. But if we seek the reasons, perhaps that we are no longer as "tight" with God as we should be, then we can change things.
When we turn to God in repentance and faith, the flickering of life will change and hopefully stop. Our spiritual bulb may be dim, or it may need to be changed or the lamp may need to be re-plugged in. We may need to check whether we have moved away from God, or have allowed dust to settle between us and God.
Only when we realize that we are part of the problem, will the flickering of life be dealt with in a positive way. Only then can we realize Jesus is the solution to our problems. Remember, He once said, "You are the light of the world." (Matthew 5:14)
How steadily will you shine today?
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