How to Be a Light in a Dark World

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Local churches are getting involved. They might receive a message like, Local family seeks two twin beds and sheets for their 7 and 10-year-olds. It's a live Care Portal request. Families in crisis are vetted by child-serving agencies and partner with churches and volunteers to make sure children have a bed of their own. It's an opportunity for churches to be a light in their community. What does being a light look like in that exact moment?

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Welcome to Daily Devotions for Busy Lives. I'm Bart Leger, and today we're going to look at what it means to live as people of light, how ordinary actions can shine the goodness of God into dark and difficult places.

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We don't have to wait for big, dramatic opportunities to make a difference. We can reflect the light of Christ to those around us through every small act of kindness and by extending grace and love to others. Ephesians chapter 5, verses 8 and 9 says, For once you were full of darkness, but now you have light from the Lord. So live as people of light, for this light within you produces only what is good and right and true. And Philippians 2.15 reminds us, And so that no one can criticize you, live clean, innocent lives as children of God, shining like bright lights in a world full of crooked and perverse people.

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When God's light shines through us, it stops being about us and points others to the light of the world. We're called to be light to the world around us.

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It's about showing up and letting God's goodness shine through our ordinary choices.

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Here's one example of how it plays out all over the country.

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In this request for a local family in crisis, a church volunteer taps, respond, grabs mattresses and linens, and sets up beds so two kids don't sleep on the floor tonight. That's the design of Care Portal, linking child welfare workers' verified request to nearby churches in real time. In 2025, Sleep in Heavenly Peace, the bed-building ministry, announced a new partnership with Care Portal, so churches can meet no-bed cases even faster with sturdy, hand-built beds. Churches like South Tulsa have been at this for years, now serving as a connecting church and documenting needs they've met, including bed requests. They're providing a faithful light in their own zip codes. That's what it might look like to live out Ephesians 5.8 in a tangible way.

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not be able to fix everything, but you can show up. And think about it. Light doesn't make noise to prove it shining. It just shines. It reveals what's there and what needs to be done, if anything. It guides where there's darkness. You can be that light today. You can do it through a kind word or maybe a gesture of generosity. Or be an example of how the Holy Spirit enables a patient response when the world expects anger and wonder how it is that you can respond with patience and with grace. Sometimes the most powerful testimony isn't a sermon. It's a bed delivered or a meal cooked for someone in need. Every time you love your neighbor, you make the gospel visible. You're being the hands and feet of Jesus. Jesus didn't say you have light. He said you are the light. So wherever you go, your workplace, your home, or your neighborhood, the ballpark, you carry the brightness of his presence. The question isn't whether you have enough light. It's whether you're willing to uncover it.

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Here's today's challenge. Ask God to show you one small way to be a light today. Maybe it's meeting a tangible need.

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Possibly encouraging a friend.

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Or maybe, like we mentioned earlier, choosing gentleness over frustration. And pray the simple prayer. Lord, help me bring your light into one person's darkness today. And go do it. Father, thank you for calling us out of darkness into your marvelous light. Help us to reflect that light in the places we live and work and serve. Use our hands and our words and our hearts to bring your goodness to others today. In Jesus' name, amen. Thanks for joining me today on Daily Devotions for Busy Lives. Remember, you can be a light today. Come back next time for more encouragement to help you live grounded in God's truth. Until then, God bless and have a great day.