An Unlit Candle Does Not Shine, For Burning Must Come Before The Light

We crave peaceful circumstances. If we don't like a job, a boss, a salary, or a coworker, we move on. If a college class is too difficult, we drop it. If a commitment takes too much time or effort, we abandon it.

God hates it when we pass up on the real life and settle for the false promises of the world.

God's ways are not our ways. And sometimes in our greatest difficulties we find our greatest opportunities and blessed responsibilities.

Light is always costly and comes at the expense of that which produces it. An unlit candle does not shine, for burning must come before the light. And we can be of little use to others without a cost to ourselves. Burning suggests suffering, and we try to avoid pain at all costs.

We want God's benefits without changing how we live. We want His best, without our sacrifices. We don't fear God or share our faith. We still love the world. We'll pursue happiness at any cost. We get what we can from God without giving much, if anything, back.

Trials and distress are not something unusual in life; they are part of what it means to be human in a fallen world.

Pain will either turn us against God or draw us to Him. The choice is ours!

Our selfish world view believes that God exists for me, rather than I for Him. If he'd made my life better and pain-free, I'd believe Him more passionately. But anytime God didn't meet my expectations, we had a problem. God created me in His image. I returned the favor and created Him in mine. The kind of God I wanted to believe in was this: if He's not what I want, then He can't have my whole life.

But this is not at all how it works. It's Christ or nothing. We must take up our cross and follow Him at all costs.

Nothing in this world is more important to me than my treasure in heaven. No fear in my heart is greater than my fear of God. I desire nothing more than I desire all of God. Because God isn't just someone I believe in but is my life.

I am grateful for being used by God to deliver a message of His Great Love.

Blessings,
Dalinda