Chapter 2: Beginning to See the Light

Thank you for coming back for week two of our study, Just Enough Light for the Step I’m On – Trusting God in the Tough Times by Stormie Omartian.  I hope you found yourself challenged last week to take each step while holding the hand of our mighty God.

Let’s open with a word of prayer.  Heavenly Father, we are grateful for this study and the opportunity to grow deeper in our faith in You. Teach us Father what it is you want us to know about you and your son, Jesus.  Help us to focus on You as You work in the lives of our children.  Amen

Beginning to See the Light

I am certain we all understand that Jesus is the Light of the World, but I have to admit, Stormie offers new insight for me.  Every type of light we will ever encounter in our lives will eventually go out.  God is the only light is 100% reliable. His light is constant and never changing because God does not change.  I remember going thru a difficult time in my life when God seemed so far away.  I asked a friend ‘where did God go?  I feel so alone’.  She responded ‘God didn’t move.  Did you?’  Stormie says it like this “His light doesn’t grow dim or go out.  If it appears to, it’s because we have stepped out of the light of His presence”.  (Page 23)  When we become depressed over the trial in our life, we must make certain we are standing in the light of His presence and have not wandered in the counterfeit light of the enemy.

In His light, truth is revealed to us.  The stronger our walks with the Lord becomes, the brighter his light be illuminated to us.  Stormie says that God “gives us as much of His presence as we are able to receive”.  (Page 23)  So, how do we make certain we are walking in the light of the Lord and receiving as much of His presence as possible?  Stormie gives us an interesting analogy.  “I have electricity in my home, but if I don’t plug into it, I don’t see the light.  I have Jesus in my heart, but if I don’t plug into Him daily, I won’t see His light either, even though it is there.  I have to connect with Him.  Talk to Him.  Worship Him.  Spend time with him.  Bask in His radiance like bathing in the sun”.  (Page 24)

Let’s Discuss:

How do you connect with God?  What does your daily time with Him look like? What ideas for connecting with God can you share with your fellow parents?

I look forward to hearing from you.

Chapter 1: Learning to Walk

Today we begin our study of Stormie Omartian’s book Just Enough Light for the Step I’m On – Trusting God in the Tough Times.  Let us begin with a word of prayer:

Heavenly Father, we thank you for this time to come together to learn more about You.  Help us to take our focus off of our children, Lord and place it on You.  Teach us Father how to walk more closely with you.  Open our hearts to you, Lord and speak to each of us during the coming weeks as we learn to trust in you.  Amen

Learning to Walk

I thought it was appropriate that our study begins with the concept of how children learn to walk.  Do you remember the day when you child took their first steps?  Remember how they held your hand until they gained confidence in themselves?  Then they released your hand to make their way into their new world opening around them.  Stormie tells us that this is not what God wants for us.  He wants us to hold His hand tightly and to rely on Him as we take each step.  Why?  So that we may enjoy freedom – the type of freedom that comes from being on the path that God has planned for us.  God has plans for each of us that are beyond our wildest dreams, but we cannot reach them without His help.  We must learn to depend on God so that He can be strong in us.

I love the sound of God being strong in me.  How about you?  Are you ready to learn to walk to with God?  Stormie tells us to take his hand and pray this prayer:  ‘Lead me in the path You have for me, Lord.  From this day on, I want to walk with you.  I take this step of faith and I trust in You to meet me here.  Align my heart with Yours’.

Let’s Discuss:

As you take one step at a time, holding God’s hand and letting Him lead, He will get you where you need to go.  How willing are you to let God lead you where you need to go?  How would you like to see your walk with God change?  How will learning to depend on God lead you through this difficult time in your life?

I look forward to hearing how you are learning to walk with God and trust in Him.

Lord light the path, give me the strength to walk it…

As I have reflected on my Christian walk, I have discovered a consistent prayer “Lord, light my path and give me the strength to walk it”.  It always felt like an appropriate prayer.  After all, I never prayed for Him to put me on a different path, or even ‘here is where I want my path to lead’.  But rather I simply asked him to light my path.  Truth be told, if God would light the path, and by that I mean the entire path, I would run full speed toward the end.  Think about it, if God revealed to you the messenger who would bring your son or daughter out of the darkness, wouldn’t you take it upon yourself to find that person to perhaps, speed up the process?  I know I would.

Yet, God has revealed something to me…he doesn’t want to light my path.  He wants me to depend on him each and every day.  Not just for one day, so that I may take matters into my own hands.  He wants to light my next step and He wants me to wait patiently there until He lights the next one.  He wants me to be dependent on Him and to trust Him completely.

Perhaps you are like me.  If so, I have an invitation for you.  Will you join me and your friends on Parents Reaching Parents in a Stormie OMartian Bible Study entitled Just Enough Light for the Step I’m On – Trusting God in Tough Times?  This 21 week study will help us take our eyes off our children and the path they are on and focus our energy on our Sovereign God as He guides our steps.  The book (same title) is available in any Christian book store for approximately $15 or on Amazon at http://www.amazon.com/Just-Enough-Light-Step-Im/dp/0736923578/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1272843278&sr=8-1. It contains a prayer and study guide with seven to ten questions in the back of the book.  I will post a synopsis of each chapter along with some questions that we can discuss together.

Please join me beginning Sunday, May 16^th as we come together to surrender our children to God and grow in our trust in Him.  I look forward to studying God’s Word with you!

Blessings.