The Light-bulb

Last week, Antony was helping me clean out the refrigerator...Yes, I know..I am blessed.  :)  Well, after over a year of not replacing the light-bulb in the refrigerator, he fished around on the top shelf of the cabinet to find...a spare!  Sure enough, it worked perfectly and immediately the change shocked me.  Let's face it.  The difference a light-bulb in a refrigerator makes to a mom is pretty intense.  We practically have a best friend relationship with those things - you love them b/c they take care of the things that are important to you - and sometimes when they are empty you get a bit miffed but you fill her up and you're back on speaking terms.  Well, it has taken me almost a week to get used to the new brightness in my refrigerator.  I actually told Antony that every time I open it, I feel like there's almost something wrong with the refrigerator until I take the second to mentally adjust my thinking to the fact that having the light-bulb operating in the fridge is right and that it's meant to be this way.  It wasn't until a couple days into the fridge transformation that I had the revelation...I was a bit slow on the uptake.  But I suddenly thought, "In what areas of my life have I been living without a light-bulb?  What areas of my life were at one point operating in the light but for some reason or another the light was extinguished?  And instead of taking the time to replace the light, I adjusted and got used to seeing that area of my life from the Darkness' point of view instead of getting the truth that comes only from the Light that is MEANT to be operating there?  Where had I allowed wrongful thinking to take over - covering my sight - giving me only a partial picture, stopping me from living to the full?  Which crevice or corner have I forgotten about, leaving it in the dark and tricking myself into thinking it's no big deal...b/c other light-bulbs in my life are working just fine.  I adjusted to not having that light-bulb to the point that when I finally got my light back, it actually felt weird - almost wrong.  But that's what the darkness does.  If we don't immediately deal with an issue with the truth and light of God's Word, then slowly our eyes (soul) become accustomed to the darkness and we get tricked to the point where the truth almost seems weird.  That's scary.

Also, why did I never take the time to change the bulb?  Over one full year that light-bulb was within my reach and I had the means to make the switch:  to replace darkness with light.  But it all comes down to a choice.  First, I have to ask God to show me what parts of my life have gone dark.  This takes openness and sensitivity to hear Him...humility to admit I am wrong and the courage to make the choice to make the switch.  Changing our thinking comes when the decision to change is verbalized and then commitment becomes internalized.  And unlike Antony making things easy for me and changing the fridge bulb, only I have the power to make the choice to replace the darkness with light in my thoughts, ideas, and actions.   And, OH!  How much better life looks when we are seeing it through the truth that Light brings!