Some of you know the paralysis of the soul when the doctor tells me that something is wrong with your baby. Some of you know the pain, too, that comes from parenting chil-dren born with physical hardships. Some of you are heroic in my eyes for parenting in the mystery of your children suffering.
Though I was a prodigal, I had been reared in the faith and knew enough to teach that Jesus Christ would one day return and all wrongs would be made right. Even those who couldn’t see would be able to see and those who couldn’t walk would be able to walk and those who couldn’t hear would be able to hear. That little four-year-old received those words as I signed them and she signed something I could never forget: “I wish Jesus would come back today. I don’t know what it is like to hear, but whatever that is, His voice will be the first I hear.”
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In the sin-sick life in the far country of my past, I lost all, including three little deaf children. But, years later, when God worked a miracle and Mae and John Michael and I were united and re-united with Jessica, Heather and Matthew, I told Jessica about that time. Amazingly, she remembered.
Even though those years were dark -- and in a way, I lost so much that things would never be the same -- the Kingdom was at work. It was an “already and not yet” experience. But that is also true in the lives of those deaf children. One day they will hear. I believe that because I believe in a Kingdom that is here and not yet, a Kingdom that is a light that must shine, even if it looks dark now.
I wonder what you are thinking about right now that seems so small to you, so mysterious, so impossible. Maybe in this passage, today, Jesus Christ is coming along side of you and saying, “There is more to come. “This lamp has got to shine!” Maybe you are trusting God in your business and things aren’t going too well right now. You are like my friend who said, “I trusted in Christ and every-thing is going down hill now!” But if God is in it, this thing has got to shine. God’s time is not your time.
Maybe you are in a blended family and you are praying for God to put you all together. You’ve given it to the Lord, but the tension is still there. I prayed with a wonderful woman this week who is dealing with news of a medical emergency and what it means for her and her husband and children. I suspect that each and every week that is going on with so many who hear me.
Dear friends, hear the words of Jesus. The Kingdom is not meant to be hidden in your life. The Kingdom will shine. The Kingdom will come. That is a call for faith in the darkness of your life now, faith in the questions, faith in the mystery, faith in the bad news. Wait on the salvation of the Lord. The Word of the Lord cannot fail. That lamp has got to shine. It was intended to be put on a lampstand, not under a basket or a bed. It will shine.