Lamp Light

I've recently finished Beth Moore's Bible Study - Quest.  The aim of the study is to bring you deeper into God's Word and further intimacy with God.  It was a great study, as all of Moore's are but one thought has really stuck with me. 

Psalm 119:105 ESV

After reading this verse, Beth started talking about walking with a hand-held lantern.  If you hold the lamp out you only get an arm's length of light.  Just a few steps worth.  That's why you have to stay in The Word daily. You only get enough wisdom for today. 

We all want to know the plan.  We want to know what's going to happen next.  Beth addressed this want with this truth: if we knew the plan, we'd be working on the end, not being present right now.  We wouldn't learn the lessons we needed to learn to be successful in that future. So we might not be successful there. 

When I was little there was a commercial for milk with a mirror. Kids would look into the mirror and see their future selves.  Of course they were strong and healthy because they'd drank milk as a kid.  Man o man, did I want that mirror! I wanted to look into it and see the future.  Honestly, I still do.  I still want to know what to be when I grow up.  I want to know what God has in store for me so I can start moving in that direction, if I'm not already.  Actually, that's what I really want to know - am I doing it right?

That makes me giggle because as a teacher, I don't like it when kids want me to grade their work before they're done.  "Is this right?" they ask.  "I'll let you know when I grade it."  When they have a specific question, I am happy to answer.  What I'm trying to do is to build their confidence.  Ask questions when you don't know but otherwise be confident that you're doing it right. 

My longing for the mirror is doing that same thing to God.  He wants me to have confidence in Him.  The way I build that confidence is to know Him more.  And the way to know Him more is His word. To walk by His lamp light.  Mercy, He has such an awesome sense of humor!