Day 3: The BIBLE is your light!

The day Bob disclosed his battle with pornography and lust to me, I felt dazed and hollow.

I didn’t have to say it. Neither did he. Date night was canceled. My appetite for the county fair had been suffocated by numbness.

“That’s a lot to process,” I said calmly—almost too calmly. Then I stood up and left him sitting alone.

I had to get out of the house.

When I got to the side porch, I wondered where I was headed but tapped the back pocket of my jeans instinctively. Yep, phone’s there. I headed toward the woods.

When we moved to this magnificent ten-acre farm years before, Bob had asked me never to ride my horse or walk in the woods without it. “I want to be able to come for you if you are hurt,” he’d said.

Ironic.

As I stepped onto the overgrown path, I pulled out the phone and called one of my oldest and dearest friends, Donna VanLiere.

I mumbled a bit as I tried to tell her what had just happened. The words didn’t come easily.

My dear friend pulled out a verse from Psalm 119 that she’d hidden in her heart and used it to form a prayer over me: “Lord, Dannah doesn’t know what to do. You’ve promised that Your Word would be a lamp to her feet and a light to her path. Would you please use it for her to see her next step?”

The tears finally flowed.

“Dannah,” Donna asked, “How much light does a lamp give for your feet?”

I was silent.

She answered for me: “Just enough for the next few steps.”

If you don’t know what to pray at a particular time in your life, the Psalms are a good place to begin. They’re a great comfort when we are, as Psalm 119:107 reads, “afflicted.”

We’re usually afflicted for one of two reasons: either we’ve been deeply wounded by our own sin, or our hearts are bleeding from someone else’s. But with our Savior, there’s always hope for when we or someone we love are lost in sin.

Lost is the keyword. When we are lost, we need direction. And when we are lost in sin, we need a guide.

In Psalm 16 we find David, who is wrecked by his sin, declaring, “You make known to me the path of life; in your presence, there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.” (Psalm 16:11)

He’s declaring his belief that God would show him the direction he needs to go to get out of the dark. The darkness is real . . . but the Bible is your light.

And it gets even better: John 8:12 records Jesus saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” What a promise! That is your confidence. And get this: Jesus is the Word made flesh ( John 1:14). So when you read the pages of your Bible, it is His voice you are allowing to guide you out of the darkness. And, oh, what a light He is!

Here’s why Psalm 119:105 melted my heart when Donna prayed it over me: Jesus was with me in those woods!

At that moment my sad, hard day actually became better than the happy, easy day that came before it. That’s when I realized that your hardest day with Jesus by your side is always better than your best day without Him. His Word really is a light to your path.

Pray God’s Word: Lord, light my path. Every time I open your word please prove what you say about it to be true. Give me just enough light for the next step. In Jesus’ name, amen.