Walking in Sunshine…

I vividly recall being a young US Army officer out on maneuvers in the woods. We were in “blackout” mode which means no light of any kind. I don’t know if you have ever walked around much in the darkness, but it’s damn hard! As a I stumbled along looking for the right location for our guns, I suddenly found myself airborne, unwillingly participating in a 5 foot drop to the ground below. Apparently I had walked right off a small bridge to the dried up gully underneath. Fortunately it was too dark for anyone to see me, but they did catch that shriek I let out on my way down.

So many people today are walking around in the darkness, miserable and defeated. They aren’t in the darkness because of life’s shadows. They’re in the darkness in their minds. And make no mistake, darkness hurts. Darkness isn’t the great power, even though it makes a strong case. The Great Power is light, but light cannot illuminate you unless you walk in it. And, when you decide to be illuminated, you stop falling in the gullies.

Let’s just take a moment to discover how the darkness holds sway in your mind. Let’s say you did something bad (a common human event). You feel terrible about it. The actual event lasted about as long as it took to happen (you fill in the blank). In the grand scheme of your life, the amount of actual time was probably minuscule. Yet, the darkness got you! But, that’s not the real problem… The trouble comes next when you decide to rehearse that error in judgment for days, weeks, months and even years. How many people are condemning themselves for something they did 20 years ago? That is the prototype of walking in darkness.

Maybe you aren’t the kind of person that does bad things (I’ll humor you). Instead, you are a victim. When you were young, someone treated you badly. Maybe it was a  parent or a teacher or a friend. Whoever it was and some really awful things are done to children in our world, it happened in your past. Again darkness got you. But to live under its spell years later is walking in darkness.

I’m certainly not supporting the multitude of wrongs that are done in this world. Some folks have suffered terrible, terrible things. Instead I’m suggesting that once evil has gotten to you, allowing it to replay in your mind just continues its grasp on you; sometimes for a lifetime. Often people associate what I’m saying with some sort of ‘Pollyanna’ approach to life where nothing ever goes wrong and if it does go wrong, you gloss it over with positives. Ridiculous, right? Well, I’ll tell you what’s ridiculous. It’s ridiculous to get hit in the face once, then hit yourself in the face after it happens for days with no end. Negative stuff happens to all of us, even God’s kids, but smart people don’t allow the power of darkness to linger on (and on and on and on). Walking in the light means putting a decided end to the darkness.

This may surprise you but you really do have control over what you choose to think about. But, like riding a bike for the first time, you are going to fall a lot at first. You may not have complete control over what happens to you, but you do have control over how long a negative event gets to captivate your attention. Allowing it to rule over you is a decision you are making. It may not seem like it, but, oh my friends, it’s true. Walking in the light is also a decision and it’s a choice that will change your life.

If you are like me, you rely on God’s help in navigating your life. But, God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. So, if you want to find Him (though He is not far from anyone of us) you have to go the light where He is. He’s not to be found in the darkness, He is the light! And, He needs you (and me) to go to the light in order for Him to show us what to do. Dwelling in mistakes made, wrongs done and negative scenarios pretty much guarantees perpetual darkness (defeat). Choose the light, not because you are naive about life, but because you understand how life really works! How quickly things turn around when we change our minds.

Learn to use your thinking in a way that benefits you. What a man thinks in his heart, he is and to get where you want to go you have to uplift your thoughts. Have you ever noticed how you feel when the sun is shining? I often think that God designed sunny days as a real life metaphor for insight into our minds. When the sun is shining everything seems good. When it’s cloudy or dark, not so much. Why subject yourself to darkness when sunshine is always available for you?

In order to tap into the greatness of God’s power (and it is great) you have to get your mind onto His frequency.  You have to tune into His wavelength. Shoot, even the non-believers can acknowledge the variations in the frequencies of human thought. That’s no happenstance people, that is truth.

Decide right now to put an end to those cloudy, dark days and run to the light. CHANGE YOUR THOUGHTS and watch the circumstances change for you. The sun is always shining where God lives and no matter what is happening or has happened, God can make it shine for you as well.

Walk in the sunshine…it’s how you were designed to live!

Just some good, bright thoughts…