I was blind but now I see! -John 9:25
Like the blind man whom Jesus helped to see (after He told the man to wash his eyes in the Pool of Siloam), I acted in faith for Him to open my unseeing eyes by giving my life to Him.
One of the central aims of Agents of Light is to connect with unbelievers (of whom I was one for 40 years) who might become agents themselves. If I were sitting down at a cafe with an unbeliever, I would say this:
I used to be like you.
I sat where you sit now, on the other side.
I used to know how the world worked, and that being kind-hearted and following my gut was enough of a way to live. I’d do the best I could to muster the strength to accomplish anything I could put my mind to. In other words, I was my only limitation.
I also knew that, sure, some things couldn’t be proven or disproven by science, but that science and its conclusions were enough to understand how the world worked. Randomness and chance were enough to explain anything else.
I thought that the world’s religion’s were just antiquated ways of explaining how things worked. And some religions were relegated to mere mythologies, like the Greek gods and goddesses, who now make for great stories.
I got how the world worked. It was pretty empty in terms of meaning, since we basically would just amass material things and then die, but we could make our own fleeting happiness if we could just work hard enough at it.
But something wasn’t quite right about it all. Something was missing. I didn’t have peace in my heart that I desperately needed.
Then, it happened.
In the summer of 2013, my heart was moved to say the so-called Sinner’s Prayer, where I acknowledged who Jesus was, that He died for me, and I accepted Him as my Lord and Savior. By doing so, the Holy Spirit took residence in my heart, and the transformation began.
It was like the wool was pulled off my eyes. What I thought I knew of the world was a lie, much like how in “The Matrix” the main character, once unplugged, saw how horrible the real world was. I now saw how vile and terrible and evil the world was. I could see a whole extra dimensional dark layer interwoven with the “real” world I used to only see. The thoroughness of the illusion, and how it dupes so many, was stunning and saddening.
I then realized I was walking as a sighted person among billions of the blind—who knew they saw everything clearly—and that I had a mission to fulfill. I now carried His light with me, and I could start to notice others who carried His light. We lit up small spots and clusters in this dark world, and to do our part in the Great Commission, where Jesus calls His children to spread His teachings to all the corners of the earth, we would slowly light up this world.
But now, my heart and soul were lifted and unencumbered by all my burdens from the One who died for my sins…who redeemed me and dashed my transgressions as far as the east is from the west. I now was buoyed with a lightness and fire with such intensity that I was truly reborn. My old flesh would still rise up and weigh me down with burden and condemnation, but I now had a Savior whose yoke was easy and burden was light, to Whom I could lean on any time. I started to learn the power of prayer: prayer is not pleading, but praise and communication and boldly tapping into His gifts to His children, which would recharge me to fight the darkness again.
I learned of the full armor of God, and made sure to put it on, piece by piece, daily. I’d sometimes forget, and would be injured as I fell back into my old habits of facing things in my own strength.
I now had rock-solid footing, refuge, and unlimited strength, peace, comfort, wisdom, grace, and strength, as long as I kept my eyes and heart on Him. The enemy (Satan) would now redouble his efforts to whisper (or even yell) in my ear and make my old flesh ways rise up, and I would forget the amazing gift given me. But God was always there waiting for me to lift me back up.
I also instantly knew I would face opposition and hatred as a believer, because now I was on the other side. I was in the group I used to look down upon and think was backward and blind. This world does not take kindly to Christians.
And even from other professed believers, I would be called a hypocrite for still sinning. But God’s truth tells us that we all fall short, and are all forgiven.
So I knew I wanted to connect with more people who were like me…who were too sophisticated and learned to believe in a God written about thousands of years ago. It was revealed to me that the past 40 years of my life were used to assemble an arsenal of skills and talents for this very purpose. And so, Agents of Light was born, so spread the Good News that the ancient truth of His gospel is timeless.
And now, you.
And you are here because you are curious, and you are tired and disillusioned with the fleeting joys and shallow promises of this world. I was you. And I’ve crossed to the other side, and will never go back, because to know the truth is freeing.
Like the Matrix, becoming an agent of light is something you cannot understand till you experience it. Describing it doesn’t do it justice. I can only ask you: what do you have to lose by making the same commitment as I did?
Once you make the jump, you will understand. It’s not fooling yourself into believing something. If you commit and surrender your life to Jesus, you will finally see the world for what it truly is, your crucial role in bettering it, and the fact that you are backed and supported by an unfailing love and infinite power. Because He will live in you, you will be unstoppable, with a life so bright and promising and purposeful, and you now have the greatest life as His instrument to bring more agents of light into the world.
You will have your dark and trying seasons which will test your faith, and season you as you learn to let Him be your strength, but you will always make it through to an even better outcome. You will, with each day, equip yourself and head out into the world with your new, glorious identity to share with others.
You will be a child of the One True King.
Today’s soundtrack
Newsboys’ “God’s Not Dead” addresses the ever-sophisticated world’s take on God.
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