Double Burn

I made a decision to return to school almost a year ago now.  Yes that would be a really good idea.  I gathered all my information and began the process of enrolling.  Next all I had to do was to wait for the fall semester to start.  It is now well underway and I have to say, it is quite the experience.  I enjoy meeting new people and learning new things.  I’m learning a lot about myself as well.  Things like how I budget my time and what is important to me.  I know you have heard that saying, “Burning a candle at both ends” before, well that is pretty much how I have felt.  I have been trying to figure out how to balance all my normal duties and then fit homework from four classes in!  It is a little tricky! 

As I was attempting to do my homework this weekend, the attempt was fruitless; a thought was brought to my mind.  God reminded me about being a candle and how we are supposed to burn.  Then a picture of a candle burning at both ends came into my head.  A candle burning at both ends would be even brighter.  We as human beings tend to think that burning our candle at both ends is a stressful thing.  What if we turned that around and looked at it from a different perspective.

"No one lights a lamp and then covers it with a bowl or hides it under a bed. A lamp is placed on a stand, where its light can be seen by all who enter the house.” ~ Luke 8:16 (NLT)

"No one lights a lamp and then hides it or puts it under a basket. Instead, a lamp is placed on a stand, where its light can be seen by all who enter the house.” ~ Luke 11:13 (NLT)

We not only light our candles and lamps but we place them in a spot where it can shine the brightest.  It is placed high so that its light can be allowed to reach the furthest it can go.  Now what if that candle or lamp had another end to it that could be lit?  I know what the “burning the candle at both ends” means and that it will burn out faster.  What if we looked at it through a different set of eyes?  There are two ways I would like to explore thinking about this.  One way being; the light would shine so much brighter if there were another source.  It could reach further out than one source.  With God being the wax or oil that allows us to burn, we won’t ever run out of fuel.  The second way of thinking would be this.  What if we had one side burning bright for all the people we see regularly, even people we bump into from time to time?  However, what about those people that we might meet at a new time in our life?  There are season of changes in our life and new adventures arise and along with that comes new people as well.  These people may not be people you see every day but they are people that need to be able to see in a dark world.  What if we looked at our candle or lamp and asked God to give us another source for burning?  One for the friends and family we have already and another for the people that need a little more light.  All you have to do is ask God to help you shine brighter and He will provide the fuel for the continual brighter light.  Both ends burning for the glory of God!  What a thought! 

Challenge for this week. . .  Are you shinning bright for every soul that enters your life?  Are you reserving your light for only a certain few?  Do you have a desire to be as bright as you possibly can or are you content to just let a little light shine and call that good enough?  Do you light your light but leave it on the floor so that it can’t spread out into the darkness?  I dare you to give the “double burn” a try and see how God can move!