Is Your Light On?

The wife of a pastor at a church in Colorado had once told me about something her daughter, Hannah, said when she was three years old. After the morning service was over one Sunday, Hannah tugged on her mom’s skirt and asked, “Mommy, why do some people in church have lights over their heads and some don’t?”

—HEAVEN IS FOR REAL, 74

Todd

I believe that the natural and spiritual worlds coexist, but most of us see only the natural one. Colton said that in heaven he could see a light above everyone’s head, and later I was told what Hannah Goss, then three years old, had asked her mom, Barb, after church one Sunday morning. She posed a simple, straightforward question to her mother: “Why do some people at church have lights over their heads and some don’t?”

What Hannah and Colton both saw points to an event in the book of Acts. The Bible says when the Holy Spirit arrived at Pentecost tongues of fire came to rest on people’s heads. For that moment, adult human beings were allowed to see into the spiritual world. It’s possible they saw something that matches what both Hannah and Colton could see as children many years later.

We know the Holy Spirit remained with the apostles, but the Bible only records people seeing those tongues of fire on that one special day. But if the Holy Spirit didn’t leave the apostles’ hearts, isn’t it also possible that the lights didn’t go out above their heads either? Maybe their earthly eyes just weren’t allowed to see the spiritual lights any longer.

Hannah, now an eighteen-year-old college student, can no longer see the lights above people’s heads, but she hasn’t forgotten the time she could. Her glimpse of something spiritual stays with her.

Of course, the first thing I asked Barb when I heard this story was if Hannah had seen a light above her mom’s head. If I had found myself in that conversation with a child, my first instinct would have been to check. I would have raised my hand, pointed above my head, and asked the scary question: “Do you see a light here?” I would have wanted to know!

Barb admits she was too afraid to ask. It’s kind of like going to the doctor when you think you might have cancer. Some people want to know, and some don’t. The diagnosis can be too scary to face.

Did I mention that Barb is a pastor’s wife? Still, asking if there was a light above her head was downright scary. Which confirms that point we often make: pastors and pastor’s families are normal. We are not super-spiritual. And in that moment, Barb went with her gut reaction. She didn’t ask.

Now, I’m not saying that Barb didn’t know for sure that the Holy Spirit was in her life. You sure don’t have to see lights above your head to be assured the Holy Spirit is in your heart. But I will say that I asked Hannah, “Did you see a light above your mom’s head?”

Hannah answered with something like, “Of course!”

I was glad to get to break the news to Hannah’s mom. “Guess what,” I said. “There was a light above your head too!”

Barb shouldn’t have had to wait for me to break the news. She could have known immediately, during that very first conversation. All she had to do was ask. But she didn’t.

Most of us have a tendency to put off or avoid some very important issues in life. Even with today’s advancements in medicine, we’re told repeatedly that early diagnosis is one of the greatest tools doctors need for treatment. In fact, many diseases or health risks can only be treated if an early diagnosis is made. Many times, doctors can do nothing to help patients after the window of opportunity for treatment is gone. “If only we had known sooner” is a gut-wrenching statement to hear from your doctor.

It turns out the spiritual and the physical worlds have a lot in common. Sometimes, deep inside ourselves, we know something is wrong with our spiritual life, but we’re afraid to find out what it is. I know people who attend church regularly but don’t show any of God’s light in their lives. I don’t need a child to tell me that some people who are going through the motions of a religious life don’t have a light shining above their heads or in their hearts.

Some people find real faith; others try to live off the faith of others. Some have had a personal experience with God; others only follow tradition and routine. Some have asked for forgiveness and have invited God’s Spirit to come into their lives and are walking daily with God; others don’t know God and are still trying to be “good enough.”

Unfortunately, many cannot tell the difference in these two “diagnoses.” If God is missing from your life, religious activity could be misunderstood as being “good enough.” After all, you can’t miss something you’ve never had.

Even people who do have God in their lives need constant spiritual check-ups. Regardless of the habits and hurts God has set us free from, this world continually invites us to return to our old godless habits. If we aren’t watching, we can fall into relationships and behaviors that can devastate ourselves and our families.

Just because our relationships and loved ones are safe today, that doesn’t mean they will be safe tomorrow without God’s guidance or interruption. For the sake of yourself and all the people you care about, you deserve to know the truth right now. You need a diagnosis!

One of the synonyms for truth in the Bible is the word light. People who discover the truth are like people who step out of the darkness into the light. So let’s move toward God’s light together. You can take the first step by praying this prayer with me:

“God, is there something in my life that is going to hurt me or the people I love if you and I don’t take care of it today? Please open my eyes to see what I need to fix, and give me the courage and the strength to do it now. Amen!”

You deserve to know the truth about yourself—right now.

He who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God.

—John 3:21