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Hi! Welcome to Well Lit Soul where we seek God, face darkness, and shine brighter. Today’s blog is called: Light for Breakfast. 

Whenever I wake up, I do my best not to pick up my phone for at least 30 minutes. But this past Saturday, I broke that rule because a friend sent me a YouTube video the day before that I hadn’t watched yet. 

I opened it and it was Jordan G. Welch singing “Open the Eyes of My Heart”. This is one of my favorite gospel/worship songs and this was easily the most beautiful version I’d ever heard. It was so pure and simple. A lot of gospel and Christian songs can be really big with lots of production and fanfare, even if they have a slow or somber tone. While listening, I felt myself waiting for the music to swell in a big crescendo, but the song remained calm and quiet. Jordan was singing out from her heart and I felt so soothed and comforted while absorbing the tender lyrics, “quiet the noise in my mind Lord, and open the eyes of my heart, I want to see you.”

This rendition reminded me of 1 Kings 19 and Ephesians 5. 1 Kings 19:11-13 describes how God is revealed to Elijah not in a strong wind, or an earthquake, or a fire, but in the quiet of a still small voice. Sometimes we can feel pressure to have a big, grandiose display of reverence for God. But I find that our deepest points of connection are found in the simple moments of quiet stillness.

And in Ephesians 5:19, Paul says to: “speak to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord.” Throughout this chapter, he was reminding the early Christians how to walk in the light (verses 8-14) and how to walk in wisdom (verses 15-22). And this melodious singing from the heart reminds us of how we can come together to worship God and shine our lights for Him. 

This video and these passages make me think, when we are alone and only have God as our audience, what is inside of us that we can give to Him? What is the song in our heart or the light in our eyes? Sometimes we don’t have many or any words. Sometimes our voice is softer than a whisper. But it doesn’t matter because God knows and hears us even if we don’t say anything out loud. Even if our mind is noisy, and our heart is torn, and our light is dim. God can still reach us in those small and quiet places. 

But what can help us recognize Him, regardless of how strong our light is, is to be attuned to hear and see Him. It’s critical to take great care of the things we see and hear. What are we feeding our spirit day to day? Is our regular diet of emails, social media, the news, etc. more noise that clouds our ability to hear and know God? Sometimes the things we are automatically exposed to, even if they are not wrong or harmful, fill our hearts and minds when our spirit is craving something richer. The same way we have to be attuned to our bodies to learn what foods and activities strengthen it versus weaken it, we have to be even more careful with our spirits. It requires an inventory of everything we consume and noting how it affects the spirit. Does this spark, ignite, or fuel my light or does it dim, dull, or extinguish it? And asking why that might be. 

God speaks to us through His word, so the more time we spend in the scriptures, the more we learn and understand Him. And we can continue to nourish the heart and mind through sermons, songs, and fellowship that truthfully and carefully speak about His power, faithfulness, and love. Because ultimately, if we ask to know God, if we seek Him, we will find Him and know Him, Matthew 7:7-8. And as the original source of light (Genesis 1:3) and Father of lights (James 1:17), God is able to provide all the fuel we need for our light. 

Connection Question: What are some of the ways you fuel your light to start the day? How does that fuel impact the way your spirit feels throughout the day?