Daily Scripture Reading: Psalm 21; Genesis 15:1-18; Matthew 12:33-37

It’s the light that pierces through you to the darkest hidden place it knows your deepest secrets but it never looks away.

This is the first line in the song “Call It Grace” by Unspoken, and this “light piercing” is exactly what happened to me this year. The year started off like all the other years before it with me making a New Year’s resolution. I decided I was going to study my Bible more and spend more time in prayer; only this year was not like any other, because I actually kept this resolution. I joined a Bible study, started Bible journaling, and at the prompting of my Heart Moms, started a prayer journal.

As I studied more and prayed more, I realized my life was not in line with God’s word, but with the world’s. We had a fairly new home with all the extras, owned a camper, belonged to a health club, and I got monthly facials and pedicures. If I wanted new clothes I would just go buy them, and we took multiple vacations a year. Honestly, the list could go on and on. I was living the American dream! As I started to learn more about God and His desires for His children, I slowly realized I was not living God’s dream. The “light” had pierced my darkest hidden place, and I was starting to feel it.

Below is an excerpt from my prayer journal, which reflects the changing of my heart.

Then for the next month and a half I prayed for God to help us get our finances in order. I had no idea how God was going to achieve this. I guess I just thought He would send us some money, but that is not how God works. On July 11, 2016, Chad received the news he would be laid off from his job. Boy, did God ever answer my prayers! His answer turned our world upside down and forced us to get our finances back in order. Which is how God works... Wasn’t it a little over 2000 years ago that God turned the world upside down by sending His son to be a light in a world of darkness?

You see, God shined a light in my “darkest hidden place” and exposed my “deepest secret” this year...my love of money, and the filling of a void that only God can fill. Thankfully, He never turned away. It’s been a long journey this year of realigning my heart with that of God’s, but He has never turned away, and never will. Praise God! So, if you are like me, and God is shining His light into one of your darkest places, don’t turn away. Embrace it!

“Trust in the Lord and do what is good; dwell in the land and live securely. Take delight in the Lord, and He will give you your heart’s desires. Commit your way to the Lord; trust in Him, and He will act, making your righteousness shine like the dawn and your justice like the noonday” –Psalm 37:3-6

—Jennifer Winkler