Psalm 119:105
Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path.
Living in Oklahoma means experiencing some massive thunderstorms! Some think that most people in Oklahoma die from tornados. Actually, the number one weather-related cause of deaths and injuries in Oklahoma are the thunderstorms.
Recently we had a biggie! One of those that shook the house, poured tons of rain and hail on the ground, and did the thing I hate the most: knocked out the power! I am not a big fan of the dark as it is, but when it is storming outside and dark inside, I become like a frightened little kid again.
I stumbled my way over to the drawer where I keep the flashlight. But, when I went to turn it on, nothing! The batteries were dead and I didn’t have any new ones. As I stood there in growing frustration it dawned on me that the last time I had used that flashlight it was starting to grown dim. On that particular stormy night even dim would have been better than total darkness. But, I had failed to take care of what needed to be done in order to see into the dark.
It happens the same way in my life sometimes. I get going with the things that keep me busy and forget to spend that quality time in the scriptures. When things are easy, I figure I can do it on my own. And then all of the sudden, a storm hits my life and I realize I have not prepared myself to take care of it. Instead of having in my mind the direction and encouragement that scripture gives to me, I am forced to go at it on my own. That is when failure hits.
The battery that will keep our light shining in the dark parts of our lives is the Bible. If we don’t recharge our spiritual batteries when we are not engulfed by darkness, we will find ourselves unprepared when the storm hits us. I am sure the last time I had used the flashlight and realized it was going dim, I thought to myself, “Oh, I have lots of time to buy new batteries. I don’t have anything to worry about.” Well, we know where that got me.
Another thing I learned that night, as I stood in the darkness, was how even the familiar can be difficult to navigate when we are in the middle of a storm. There I was, standing in the kitchen of the same house I had lived in for over 9 years. And yet, in the darkness it could have just as easily been a totally strange place. I stumbled in the dark as though I had never been there before. That is how it can be when we are trying to go it alone, without the Word of God rooted in our minds. Even those things that seem easy and familiar can become difficult and challenging.