The Light Within Me Shines

Message from Saturday night was from Numbers Chapter 8. God is giving Moses instruction to give to Aaron on how to set up the lamps in the Tabernacle (Tent where the Ark of the Covenant rested).
To me this symbolized a person who is allowing God to oversee and empower his recovery as he moves away from one lifestyle to another.

Verse 3
Aaron did so. He set up the lamps so that they faced forward on the lampstand just as the Lord commanded Moses.
The lampstands represent us, those in recovery. The lampstands held small bowls that were filled with oil and a wick placed in the oil. As the wick soaked the oil, it would be lit providing light. We are incapable of "seeing" with our hearts and our minds until we are filled with oil (Holy Spirit). This comes in Step #3 where we have already admitted our powerlessness and that we are in need of a power greater than ourselves to restore us to sanity. Step #3 provides that we make a conscious decision  to turn our will and life over to the care of God as we understood him.  Here is the "X" so to speak, in our life where we began the process of turning loose and looking to God to direct us.

It is the light from the oil (Holy Spirit) that penetrated the darkness. So it is in our life as we allow the Spirit of God to work. We are suddenly able to perceive and understand things we could not in the past. Simple thoughts that come to our mind concerning our behavior is one way the Spirit talks to us. The Bible is another. That is why I am such a huge proponent of studying Scripture. The more I can soak myself in God's word, the easier it is to hear him when he speaks.

Notice that the lampstand was positioned so that the light would shine forward. This speaks of our focus always being directed toward today and tomorrow. What I do today, as far as my recovery, sets up my tomorrow. We dealt with the past as we worked through Steps 4 & 5. We take action to make amends in Steps 8 & 9, but we do this things with our focus on moving forward. I like that the lampstand was positioned to reflect "forward" and not backwards. If you wanted illumination you had to move to the front and not lag behind. God is so smart, isn't he? I think so.

I also like Verse 4 which reads, "This is how the lampstand was made. It was made of hammered gold...."
Gold that had been beaten and formed. To me this speaks of the troubles and trials and tribulations, or the BIG 3 as I like to refer to them, that will shape and mold our character. It is the situations that we find ourselves in, in which we listen and follow God's directives that we are shaped and molded. It's not that God likes to inflict pain and suffering on his children, he does not. But he knows that here on this side of eternity life happens. He uses every situation to grow us up and mature us. What an incredible love God has for his children. That is why in the Book of James we read, "Count it all joy my brethren when you encounter fiery trials." God knows that our character is shaped and transformed as we hold tightly to his hand and allow him to lead us through whatever we are facing.

That is good stuff! Look for the audio message to be posted this week and I pray that you will listen.
God on you.....
mb