Cape
Hatteras,
known as
“America’s
lighthouse”
is our
tallest
lighthouse
at 198 feet.
The world’s
tallest
brick
lighthouse,
its beacon
light can be
seen for 20
miles out at
sea. It was
first built
in 1802 on
the Outer
Banks of
North
Carolina to
warn ships
of
treacherous
Diamond
Shoals, a
12-mile
sandbar just
offshore
that caused
many
devastating
shipwrecks
over the
years. It
has become
one of
America’s
favorite
tourist
attractions
and a
special
favorite of
school
children who
eagerly
climb its
268 steps
for a better
view of the
Atlantic. It
is symbolic
of
everything
that is good
and enduring
in America.
Christians
have often
been
compared
favorably to
lighthouses
for several
compelling
reasons,
most notably
because of
the words of
Jesus
Himself: “Ye
are the
light of the
world,”
(Matthew
5:14) and
“Let your
light so
shine before
men, that
they may see
your good
works, and
glorify your
Father which
is in
heaven”
(Matthew
5:16) Few
things draw
as much
interest or
pride as the
stately,
endurable
and majestic
lighthouses
which dot
our
shorelines.
Lighthouses
are there
for one
reason: to
warn ships
of danger
and point
them toward
a safe
place. They
cannot
themselves
save ships
if they
begin to
founder.
They have no
power of
their own.
They can
only provide
light in the
darkness of
night and
give comfort
and hope to
the fearful.
For them,
the blacker
the night,
the brighter
the light.
And so it is
with God’s
children. We
cannot of
ourselves
save anyone
from an
eternity
apart from
God. We can
only point
them to
Christ, to
His safe
haven, and
warn them of
the certain
dangers
ahead they
will surely
face without
Him. For
many, we
provide the
only light
in the
darkness of
their lives
they will
ever see, a
very
sobering
thought that
drives
committed
Christians
continually
to their
knees for
God’s
strength to
empower
them.
Lighthouses
are
carefully
designed,
constructed
and made
ready to do
their work
in the
bitterest,
harshest
conditions,
confident
that their
structure is
strong and
will not
fail during
the severest
storms.
As
Christians,
we, through
study and
preparation,
work in some
of the
hardest
places both
at home and
abroad to do
the work to
which God
has called
us. He
equips His
children, He
provides His
strength
through a
good
foundation
in His Word
and He wraps
them in the
protective
layers of
His love to
withstand
any assault.
Then He
covers them
with the
whole armor
of God.
Lighthouses
are there
for the
duration.
They can be
counted on
by the ships
at sea to
always be at
their post
without
excuse,
providing
that
necessary
and
comforting
light for
which they
were
created.
Christians
as
lighthouses
must exhibit
that same
dependability,
not changing
the
direction of
their beacon
lights at a
whim, not
giving
inconsistent
lighting
that shines
brightly
some nights
but which is
dimmed the
next, always
in place for
God to
provide
through
their
testimonies
hope and
help to the
hurting, the
desperate,
the grieving
and lost.
Lighthouses
stand a
lonely
vigil. Often
there is
nothing else
around,
their beacon
light high
off the
ground, a
quiet night
sentry to
the ships at
sea without
regard for
their own
safety or
pleasure.
Christians
similarly
are often
called by
God to the
loneliest
mission
station in
undeveloped
countries,
to a small
mountain
church,
which gives
little
support or
encouragement,
or to an
inner-city
ministry,
which,
though
surrounded
by the
madding
crowd, gives
new depth
and
definition
to the word
“lonely” But
these brave
workers
maintain
their vigil,
focused on
their raison
d’etre,
purposing in
their hearts
to be
faithful to
their
calling.
And finally,
lighthouses
brave the
bitterest
storms on
earth when
the
thrashing
winds of
hurricanes
threaten
their
foundations,
flood their
entries,
beat with
blinding
rain against
their beacon
lights,
making every
attempt to
render the
lighthouse
helpless,
collapsing
into a pile
of useless
rubble. Yet,
they stand.
Bruised but
not laid
barren,
lightly
damaged but
not
destroyed.
So it is
with
children of
God, who are
not exempt
from the
fierce winds
of this
world, the
overwhelming
floods that
decimate
their homes
but never
their
hearts.
Still, they
stand, these
sturdy,
committed,
human
lighthouses,
beaten but
not broken,
bearing the
battle scars
which will
one day be
turned into
crowns.
Those
missionaries
who suffered
for Christ
in Japanese
concentration
camps, those
who were
beheaded by
the Viet
Cong, those
who were
gunned down
or tortured
in
Indonesia,
as well as
the devoted
husband who
lovingly
ministered
to his
ailing wife
for years
until God
called her
home or the
godly mother
who visited
her
incarcerated
son for
years for a
heinous
crime he
committed,
these were
all keepers
of the Light
in the most
devastating
storms of
life.
These are
they of whom
God will one
day declare
before the
throngs of
heaven,
“Well done,
thou good
and faithful
servant….
Enter thou
into the joy
of the
Lord.”
(Matthew
25:21)
~ Copyright
© Mariane
Holbrook ~
Mariane777@bellsouth.com.
http://www.marianholbrook.com
Mariane
Holbrook is
a retired
teacher, an
author of
two books, a
musician and
artist. She
lives with
her husband
on coastal
North
Carolina.
