I’m not sure how long it’s been there, but when I saw it, it immediately reminded me of another one attached in similar fashion to a fence post at the end of a very long dirt road in Northern Arizona. The local one is on the northwest corner of Dixon and Hwy 6 and is placed strategically to reflect light from passing vehicles. That’s all it does, reflect light. And in the process it points the way and defines the direction needed to choose the right road. It is simply a reflector.
The one in Arizona fulfilled a similar purpose. In the 1970s few had electricity on the Navajo reservation. Trading Posts, schools, clinics and mission stations ran generators during the day, but at night all was quiet and inky black. Traveling home from shopping trips to Flagstaff on moonless nights, I would often stop and stand beside the road, gazing at the starry universe with awe and wonder. God’s handiwork was truly breathtaking. But then there was that little round reflector. It was also a point of light and it was more my size; I could relate to that small circle of red shining in the dark. Seeing it meant I was about half-way home and it brought comfort and encouragement in the long, lonely darkness.
Psalm 19:1 reminds us that “The heavens are telling of the glory of God; and their expanse is declaring the work of His hands”, but we’re also told in Psalm 36:9 that our light is from God’s Light. Could that be the reflectors God has tacked to the fence posts around our lives to reflect His light? Perhaps it’s the more personal side of God; the comforting, encouraging and easier-to-relate-to side of the Omnipotent Creator. I don’t know about you, but there are times when I need more than the starry hosts of heaven to remind me that God is there. I need a word of encouragement, an unexpected smile or someone to stand beside me praying. That’s God’s light shining in His children’s lives reflecting back into mine.
The Bible tells us that as believers we are to be Light-bearers; to live our lives in ways so others are able to see God, who is Light, reflected in us. We aren’t the source of light any more than the reflector is, but by letting God’s Holy Spirit shine through us, others will see the glory of God in ways they can relate to. We can be that point of light showing the way to a just and loving God who has dealt with man’s sin issue and provided a way out of darkness through the death of His son, Jesus, on the cross. We can stand by those who are in danger of losing their way as they stumble through dark days, desperately searching for the right path. And we can be a comforting point of light assuring that, “all is well, you haven’t lost your way, you’re almost there”.
It’s God’s job to strategically place us so we can best reflect His light. He also provides through confession of sin, a way to remove anything that would prevent His light from being reflected into the lives of others. It’s our job to do what the reflector is doing, what it was designed to do—reflect light. Philippians 2:15-16 in the Living Bible tells us to live our lives as children of God among people in a dark world and to “shine out among them like beacon lights, holding out to them the Word of Life.” Is your life reflecting God’s light to others?