Intro from Julie A. Smith:
Cathy Shepard-Wilhelm is a "pillar" at the ElijahList and does much behind the scene work to keep us organized and on track. She proofreads everything I edit as well as pretty much everything published on the ElijahList. And she also keeps track of our 134,000+ subscriber list!
Below is a word Cathy shares about us being transformed as His Light comes in to shine on any darkness in our lives. This word shows how important it is to let our light shine towards others so they too can be drawn to THE Light, Jesus Christ. This is simply said but not always easily done. I encourage and challenge you today to find someone in need to lavishly love upon with the Light of Jesus Christ--that is IN you!
Julie A. Smith, Editor
The ElijahList
www.elijahlist.net
"If you have darkness in whatever form, take heart, the Lord is your LIGHT."
Darkness or Light
It is on occasion only that I am in the car by myself (being a busy mom and wife), but on September 19, 2007, I was driving on Highway 20 towards Sisters, Oregon, alone. I was listening to the CD, Since the Fall by Don Potter (who is my very favorite musician), when I just started worshipping and praising and thanking the Lord for His goodness and mercy and the beauty of what He has created! I was so thankful for how good He is to me and my wonderful husband and son.
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Then all of a sudden without warning, the thought came to me, "THE DARKNESS is coming." I was not thinking of the nighttime or even the enemy, I was thinking that summer is almost over and the darkness of fall and winter would soon envelop me and all of us who live in the Pacific Northwest. For most of the 26 years I have lived in Oregon, I have more than just dreaded the gray days of winter. I have referred to this time as THE DARKNESS many times, and I have thought about it this way even more often.
But how did I go from praising and thanking Jesus--to this thought? It felt as if I was slapped. How can a mere thought change the way I feel? Dread instantly replaced the joy. I was no longer paying attention to the CD I was listening to; I was too busy worrying and wondering how I would make it through the upcoming darkness.
Then I heard the Lord say, "LISTEN." Then I heard Him say, "I want to tell you something." So I listened. At that moment the song, I Have a Light started to play. WOW, it was like a LIGHT bulb moment. I HAVE A LIGHT and HIS NAME is JESUS!!! John 8:12, "Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, 'I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.'" I always have THE LIGHT, Jesus, the Christ, so why do I worry about the sun when I intimately know the Son, the Lord, the Creator of all?
Transformation of Letting Go and Letting God
As most of us, I, too, have been going through a transformation this past year. I've been seeking and asking Him, "Where do I fit in, what am I to do, and how do I get there?" And He has been talking to me. Funny how that works. Some of the transformation has been very painful and some of it has been total joy.
The Lord has allowed me to see and understand things about myself, Him, and others that I have not wanted to or been able to see correctly in the past.
As far as I can remember, I have been able to "see" and "know" things. Seeing and knowing isn't worth much if you don't do what God wants you to do with that knowledge. I am a "fixer," at least that is what I told myself. I've always wanted to fix things--situations and people. That is not my job. God told me so. Our precious Lord has shown me how ineffective and wasteful my criticism or "fixes" have been in the past. I like it when the Lord is direct and to the point. This year the Lord has clearly communicated with me in this manner. Jesus has taught me many things this year, but the things He wants me to share with you now are these:
Let Go and Let God. Let Him do it, fix it, carry it, heal it...all the things He does very well. Some of you may be thinking, "Well that's not news to me." I must confess that actually doing it--letting go and letting Him--was hard at first and still is hard at times. But since I've been practicing this, I've been living in a place of peace that I didn't know was possible before.
During this ongoing process, the Lord has taught me the next important step--LOVE. Love Him, love others (in their current state), AND love myself as well. In the beginning it seemed impossible to really love. Loving involves trusting in a big way. I had a wonderful mother and father loving me while growing up and I trusted them. But I also learned early on that I better not rely on someone else "too much," and I needed to be self-sufficient. I learned to do that pretty well in my early adult years, or so I thought. This was wrong thinking--I have to TRUST Him.
In all the years I've been saved, I said that I trusted the Lord, but my life was not showing "the fruit" of trusting Jesus. The trusting has led to Love. I feel I love Him, others and myself much better today than I did a year or more ago. It is an ongoing process that is full of surprises and so much joy, it is hard to describe. I am learning to enjoy the journey and trying not to be in such a hurry.
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I have been asking the Lord, "What is my part in the Body of Christ?" His answer to me was this, "Cathy, I created you to be an encourager. You are an encourager. Encourage the Body of Christ."
I want to encourage you today. If you have darkness in whatever form, take heart, the Lord is your LIGHT--our Light. Darkness cannot remain in the Light. He is your answer for ALL things.
I leave you with the words of the song that I was listening to while on my scenic drive with God. I pray the words encourage you as much as they encouraged me. Enjoy the SONSHINE!
I Have a Light by Don Potter from his CD Since the Fall:
I have a Light and it always shines
Shines in the day and it shines in the night
When the dark days come and the sun isn't bright
I will be shining cause I have a Light
My Light is the Lord
Jesus by name
My Light is the Spirit, Who leads me to change
My Light is the Father
Who Gave up His own
My Light is the hope that one day I'll be with Him in a Heavenly home.
Abundant blessings,
Cathy Shepard-Wilhelm
The ElijahList
Email: cswilhelm@elijahlist.net
Cathy's Bio:
Cathy Shepard-Wilhelm is a former businesswoman who owned and operated several restaurants in two states and also supervised 12 other locations while operating her own restaurant. Cathy has been a support system to ElijahList Publications for 3 1/2 years and performs much "behind the scenes" technical work including proofreading internet publications and processing all the subscribe and unsubscribe requests. Cathy and her husband Dennis Wilhelm, Director of Operations at The ElijahList, have been married nearly 20 years and live in Albany, Oregon, where they attend church at Vineyard Christian Fellowship.
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