Shine (intransitive verb): to give out a bright light; a quality of brightness especially from reflected light; be very talented or perform very well
Back in January, I shared on the blog that I was trying a theme word for the first time ever, and that the word I selected was SHINE (read post HERE). Now that one-third of the year has passed, I decided to stop and reflect on the impact this theme word is having on my life.
“Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord rises upon you.” Isaiah 60:1
I’ve had good intentions these past few months, but have I diligently followed through on them?
I facilitated a seven-week small group study over Lent, served as a guest preacher at a nearby church, participated in new fitness classes, cheered on my son’s basketball team at the State tournament, and helped a business client achieve a major project milestone. Nice list of accomplishments, right? But all of this doesn’t equal SUCCESS!
The question to ask myself at this point in the year: Am I shining more today than four months ago?
In my first post, I posed the question: What is holding back my shine? Some of the answers to this question were identified in my reflections about Worry, Approval, and Shame.
Do everything without grumbling or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, “children of God without fault in a warped and crooked generation.” Then you will shine among them like stars in the sky as you hold firmly to the word of life. Philippians 2:14-16
I also asked: How can I better shine His Light everywhere I go? And then explored answers in my musings on the words Success, Different, and Boast.
And my third question: Where do I need to put my spiritual gifts to work so that they shine from use? Well, I expect the next few blog posts will get at this one!
In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven. Matthew 5:16
Over Easter weekend, my husband and son helped our nephew with a “controlled burn” on their wooded property. This procedure prompted me to think about my “shine” (the theme word gives me images of lights, fires, diamonds, and many ‘shiny’ objects and surfaces). A controlled, or prescribed, burn is a wildfire set intentionally for the purposes of forest management, farming, prairie restoration, or greenhouse gas abatement. This process stimulates the germination of some desirable forest trees, while also revealing soil mineral layers which increase seeding vitality, thus renewing the forest.
Could this be a useful analogy to use in my quest for shine? Perhaps. I love the concepts of increased vitality and renewal. Images of new life arising from ashes.
Yet, my struggle remains this: I am attempting to control the wildfire in my soul. I am prescribing the parts of me that God can have for His plan. I am allowing only certain pieces of me to be consumed by His fire. I’m playing the role of Forester instead of the forest.
But this I know for certain: God wants all of me.
He wants me to surrender to His wildfire, so that I can burn brightly for His glory. So I can have increased vitality and be made new.
The new song reverberating in my ears is called “Multiplied” by Need To Breath. The lyrics pull together all my thoughts and ideas about Shine:
Your love is like radiant diamonds
Bursting inside us we cannot contain
Your love will surely come find us
Like blazing wildfires singing Your name
God of mercy sweet love of mine
I have surrendered to Your design
May this offering stretch across the skies
And these Halleluiahs be multiplied
SHINE MORE does not equate to DO MORE. My will, my sins, my self-righteousness…these make up the lampshade dimming my shine. Rather than “doing more” or “trying harder” as a means to remove the lampshade, I see the path is instead one of SURRENDER.
To fully surrender to His Love, the blazing wildfire that seeks to consume me…
…this is the way to Shine.