Beacons of Love and Light!

by Dennis Edwards

Corrie Ten Boom the famous Dutch missionary who lived through imprisonment in a Nazi concentration camp had an important message for the Christian church. In an article she published in 1974 titled “Prepare for the Coming Tribulation,” she said she believes the world is deadly ill and dying. But she believes God wants us, His people, to be His ambassadors of love and light to this dying world. 

When I read that, the thought came to me of Florence Nightingale. It was during the Crimean War that she became famous as a war nurse. She was called “the Lady with the lamp,” and a “ministering angel” by the wounded and dying British soldiers she helped not far from the battle field. Like Florence was to those wounded and dying soldiers, God wants His people to be to the wounded and dying souls of this world. Corrie says God wants His people to be "streams of living waters and channels of mercy." He wants us to be like Florence was called, “Ladies and Gentlemen with lamps” of His light and “ministering angels” of His love.

Recently my wife attended a Christian service at a church my son attends. A visiting Pastor from America gave the sermon in English and it was translated into the local language. My wife felt as if the sermon was for her alone. The Pastor asked if anyone was facing a situation in their life in which they didn’t have the strength for, the solution for, or the answers to. My wife and two others in the congregation of around 150 people raised their hands. 

The Pastor went on to say that those three people who were facing seemly insurmountable problems were probably closer to the Lord than the rest of the church because of it. Their problem was drawing them closer to Jesus, causing them to seek Him desperately for the answer, for the healing, for the solution. He went on to say that Jesus in His grace and mercy was going to answer the prayers of those in need somehow. He was going to answer in His love and mercy. As Jesus was an over-comer, He was going to provide them with overcoming grace and mercy to overcome the seemingly impossible situation that they faced.

The Pastor concluded by echoing Corrie’s words, that the world we live in today in seriously sick and dying. But as we have received His grace and mercy we must minister it to those in the dying world we see around us. As Florence Nightingale walked the aisles of the makeshift wards day and night ministering to many wounded and mostly dying men, we, too, must pick up our discarded lamps. We must refill them with oil, the oil of God’s spirit, found in obedience to His will, and minister the light and love of God. We, too, will find like Florence did, that as she obeyed and followed God to the protest of her friends, family, and loved ones, others picked up their lamps and followed her example. 

As I walked along the beach front in the morning air, I  meditated on these thoughts. Finally, at the end of the port stood the lighthouse, the beacon of light, where also the signal of alarm would sound when the night was covered with fog, or filled with storm. I visualized the waves pounding against the lighthouse and yet it continued to shine forth its light and sound the alarm, warning those in danger or lost at sea. So, too, God has called us to be His beacons of love, His warning alarms. We are His light in the darkness of this world, saving lost souls and helping them to find the way, the truth and the life. Though the waves of problems and difficulty of this life may be pounding at our feet, trying to muffle our voice or cover our light, God will help us to sound the alarm. God will help us to shine forth His love and truth. “This little light of mine, I´m going let it shine.” I'm going to let it shine bright for Jesus!