Today I want to share something
with you that may seem a bit weird. And I’m not even really sure why I’m
supposed to share this story. However since the time it occurred the Lord has
placed it continually before me as the next post I’m to write. I’m thinking
somehow this encounter will greatly encourage someone out there that God is
trying to reach.
So here we go.
Many of you know that almost every
morning I go on a “walk-n-pray.” I drive to a park on the edge of town, not too
far from my home. I walk in a giant loop around the rural vineyards in our
Southern California Wine Country. The loop covers dirt roads, areas where it’s
paved. Lots of pastures with horses, vines and fruit trees. It’s a paradise to
me and every day I experience God in this wilderness.
Afterward he went up into the hills
by himself to pray. (Mark 6:46)
Because I have experienced the
power of praying in the wilderness, I understand why Jesus often left everyone
for the solitude and beauty of the country.
I’ve walked this particular loop
for a year now, hundreds of times I’ve walked by very familiar sights, familiar
dogs who greet me, other regular walkers on the path and a number of horses and
fields of green (At least it’s green right now. It’s brown in the fall).
It might appear to be a boring
adventure to travel this same route but God is never boring and I’ve had some
crazy encounters. One early morning as I walked the route there was a gentle breeze
blowing, most uncommon for the morning hours around here. And for some reason,
my iPod wasn’t working. I was just walking in the silence. And THAT’S when I
heard it. I heard the trees around me begin to sing worship to God. It was an unusual
sound but spectacular. I almost fell down, overwhelmed by the music.
Neat.
But that’s not the story I want to share with you today. No.
What I want to share is what I saw this past week. Like I said, I’ve walked
this route hundreds of times past many of the same fields, vines, homes and
such. And on this particular morning I was approaching an intersection with a
stop sign which marks my halfway point of my walk.
On my
walk this particular day I know I had been praying for an anointing of the Holy
Spirit. I’d been talking to God about falling behind in my writing assignments
because I was recently ill and sat on the couch for two weeks. I was asking Him
for words. But mostly, I was listening to my praise music and simply walking in
worship. I prayed for a Holy Fire to be lit in my soul. That I would bring
light and hope and compassion to people. That I would love people with the love
of Christ. And as I walked the Holy Spirit just filled my soul.
It was
at this specific time that I happened to look to my left and saw my shadow on
the ground. What I saw so surprised me that I was stunned. I stopped, frozen in
my tracks. I just stared at my long shadow that crossed into the field next to
the road. Today, my shadow wasn’t ordinary. Today, I saw something more.
There
was a glowing bright and moving light surrounding my shadow.
As I
stared in stunned awe, I heard God say to me, “Lynn, this is what I see when I
look upon you.” What I saw was a white light, so pure white that it was
brighter than sunlight. And this light around my shadow moved in and out like a
sparkling star. Well that’s the best way I can describe it.
God said,” This is
the light that surrounds you Lynn. And you know what?”
“What
Lord?”
“THIS
(light) is what the devil sees when you walk in a room and it scares him to
death.”
Whoa!
That’s all I heard. So, I thought to myself when I walk forward this glowing
light will disappear but it didn’t. It traveled with my shadow. It sparkled and
shined so white that now sunlight seems a little yellow in color by contrast to
this light.
Now I’m
not sure why God showed this to me and why He created this light to shine
around my shadow? And like you, I thought that it’s just the sunrise behind me.
However when I began walking and the light followed, still living, moving and
glistening, I knew this was something special.
Finally I turned the corner and the light faded away but I
will hold that image forever in my head. That moment with God was sheer love.
God just wanted to love on me and show me that when He looks down upon me, I
shine a light all around.
HOW
COOL IS THAT?
Okay, I
tried to capture a photo of this light on my iPhone. It’s right below. And of
course, it doesn’t come through like what I saw. But you can see the glow
around me, not the movement of the light. It may not look like much to you but
I know that someone in our community needs to know that God sees them. That God
sees the light they hold within them. That when the evil one looks upon them it
shudders with fear and runs away.
1 Peter 2:9
But you are not like that, for you are a chosen people. You
are royal priests, a holy nation, God’s very own possession. As a result, you
can show others the goodness of God, for he called you out of the darkness into
his wonderful light.
Leave a Reply