Another sleepless night! Can anyone relate? With a thousand things on my mind, I surrendered to this restless, weekend night and simply got up and out of bed. It was a beautiful evening, so I went outside and sat on the back porch. I was soaking in the glory of the night: the breeze, the stars, the sounds and suddenly a little light caught my eye and then another. As my sight adjusted I could see that the back yard was sprinkled with light. God had sent me fireflies. Not a bad gift for a sleepless sister. In that moment I was taken back to my childhood. In my mind I could see myself racing through the country. My little sister was with me and we were both bare-footed with grass between our toes. We had little jars in our hands. These jars came complete with lids which we had beautifully designed with air holes. We had poked those holes in a very chaotic fashion to prolong the lives of our firefly friends. We giggled and ran and worked up a sweat as we chased for what seemed hours for a collection of little bugs that would bring our jars and our hearts lovely green light. They were fun to chase and a challenge to catch. The little creatures brought us so much joy. It was fascinating to watch them back in our bedroom as our jars became center stage for our entertainment. I heard once that a little girl collected fireflies and called them her little tinks, like Tinker-Bell in Peter Pan. Little Tinks. Little lights. Little jar-joy-makers. What a perfect description.

It turns out that my weekend firefly experience was just a prelude to a more spectacular light show. I was driving home from work a couple of nights later and I cut through a country road. It was about 9:00 in the evening and I was exhausted from a long day of work. So, I drove this alternate route, not expecting anything, just making the journey home. All of a sudden I noticed that a tremendous number of green lights were flickering over the field to my right. What in the world? Then, I realized, little tinks! They were soaring, flying, hovering and lighting up the night in unique mini-blazes of glory. Unreal! God continued to show up and show off. He whispered, “Look to your left now.” Another field same type of light show. The entire trip was bordered by field after field of lightning bugs. I have never seen so many in my entire life. If this sister only had a jar! Oh, my. That country road was shining with a light not made by human hands, but with little creatures created by the very word of God and I was blessed beyond measure. Field after field…this bend in the road and that bend in the road, swooping over this hill and then that hill…Green lights. They were numerous, precious, unusual, unexplainable and simply said, “Spectacular.”

I discovered a fun fact about fireflies. They are the world’s most efficient light producers.

Have you ever touched a light bulb that’s been on for a while? If you did, you probably burned your finger! An average electric light bulb gives off 90% of its energy as heat, and only 10% as light. If fireflies produced that much heat when they lit up, they’d probably incinerate themselves. Fireflies produce light through an efficient chemical reaction that allows them to glow without wasting heat energy. All 100% of the energy goes into making light.

This fact provoked a question. Are we efficient light producers? We are called to be light showing Jesus to a dark world. We are appointed to be lights that radiate God in little sanctuaries. It is to his glory that we are effective and efficient in our production of light. Not only are we called to shine, but also to be obedient so we appear at the exact moment ordained by God to light someone’s path. Is the majority of our time spent in making and being light? Or, do we waste our energy on so many things that at the end of the day, that not even a tiny spark remains?

When a sister is driving down a dark country road with its curves, bends and hills, will she see you there? As her trip continues with bumps in the road and unfamiliar obstacles, can she count on you to brighten that journey? Will she encounter a little tink? Better yet, will she discover many little tinks joining together as the body of Christ gathering to light up her night? Let’s shine, church. You are called to glow a heavenly glow, cutting through the deepest, darkest of circumstances and situations. My prayer is that when a tired, weary sister encounters you, she can take a little tink with her in her heart and at the end of the day she can say, “There was light.”

“You were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light!” – Ephesians 5:8