Both Lights Needed - The Wesleyan Church

Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path. (Ps. 119:105)

While driving home late one evening, my husband and I found ourselves in a terrible storm. The wind was blowing and the rain was coming down so we could hardly see the road. Our headlights gave us enough light to see the road directly in front of the car but nothing else. We continued on, just keeping between the lines on the pavement and crawling along at about twenty miles per hour. Suddenly a flash of lightning lit up the world around us. We were able to see, just ahead of us, a tree was down and the glint of a power line across the road stopped us in our tracks. Our headlights were keeping us on the road but we needed the lightning to see the danger ahead.

I had always read this verse as just repeating itself, lamp for my feet and a light on my path. But this experience showed me two different ways a light can help us. The lamp for my feet is to keep me constantly on God’s path. I need to stay in God’s Word to know where the path is heading and to stay between the lines of God’s plan. But his Word also shows me obstacles ahead. Staying grounded in Scripture keeps me from falling for Satan’s lies and schemes. It is our guiding light for truth.

Let God’s Word reveal both your path and potential snares.

Beverly Kimball is a Wesleyan pastor’s wife, mathematics teacher, speaker, and author. She is a graduate of Oklahoma Wesleyan University (OK) and is working on a master’s in trauma and resiliency.