Read Ephesians 1:15-19

“I pray that the eyes of your heart will have enough light to see what is the hope of God’s call…” -Ephesians 1:18a

Light-bulb moments. Those times when you have a sudden revelation…an awakening or epiphany that makes you conscious of something you missed before. We’ve all had them. Sometimes when they occur, they cause us to say to ourselves, “What in the world was I thinking before? Duh!” At other times, the newfound insight spares us from a heap of trouble. Sometimes they set us on an entirely new course in life.

There are some great light-bulb stories across the pages of the Bible—Isaiah’s vision of the LORD in the temple, the prodigal son’s wake-up call in a pig sty, Saul’s encounter with the risen Christ on the road to Damascus, Peter’s dream about clean and unclean animals. As it is in these stories, so it continues to be true in our lives: the best light-bulb moments connect us to God’s deepest desires for us.

If we are to discover these desires, we will need to spend time in prayer. Ironically, it is when we go into the dark quiet of earnest prayer that the most important light becomes brightest…the light of Christ. This light illumines all things in such a way that we see more clearly than before. As we continue this journey of imagining the future, prayer will be perhaps the most important place where we will discover how we can make it happen. Prayer will turn the light on, so that we can see the hope of God’s call.

What do you think is the hope of God’s call for you right now? For this season at St. Paul’s UMC? 

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McKenzie, Scott and Miller, Kristine. The Journey Begins. Nashville, Tennessee: Abingdon Press, 2013.