Be Their Light - Let’s be Intentional with God’s Word
For the last 18 years, I’ve been a high school chemistry teacher. Every morning, seconds after the first bell rings and the classroom fills with the buzz of teenage energy (or lack of), we observe a school-wide moment of silence. It is in this quiet before the storm that I’ve prayed the same simple prayer:
“Lord, help me to be a light in the darkness.”
Before the rhythm of my day started with the familiar sounds of teenage life, it was a quick request before stepping into my classroom that can sometimes be heavy with challenges, emotional burdens, broken homes, phone addiction, anxiety, doubt, depression, not to mention general teenage behavior and hormones. As a teacher, I’ve always known there’s darkness in schools, and I’ve tried to stand against it with compassion, accountability, and grace. I’ve taken comfort in the relationships I’ve built and the growth I’ve seen in my students. I believed I was doing what God had called me to do.
But a year ago, my heart was moved…
As I stood praying that same comfortable prayer in the first days of school, the Holy Spirit interrupted me. The words came gently, but they hit me hard:
“You need to be a light in their darkness.”
It was just one word, THEIR, but it set me back on my heels. I was confused. Hurt, even. Hadn’t I already been doing that?
But deep down, I knew this wasn’t about changing a word. It was about changing my heart.
That small whisper started a slow unraveling in me. I didn’t understand it right away (I rarely do), but the Holy Spirit gave me time to sit with it, to soak in it. And over the weeks and months that followed, I started to see.
I had been praying scripture, but I wasn’t always living it with intention. I had the right belief, but not the deliberate follow-through. I was asking to be a light in the general darkness of the world around me, but I wasn’t always asking God to help me step into the specific, personal darkness that each student might be carrying.
Their darkness of loss, insecurity, fear, brokenness.
Their struggles that they might not ever speak out loud.
Their burdens that need more than a teacher’s encouragement, it needs Christ’s love, exemplified through me.
This wasn’t a call to do more. It was a call to go deeper.
To look into behaviors and see heartache.
To listen more closely.
To pray for students by name.
To show up with presence and purpose.
To trust that my light doesn’t come from me, it comes from the One who placed me here.
It’s still a journey. Some days I still fall into old habits, broad prayers, vague intentions. I still get frustrated and I am always exhausted by the end of the day. But now, when that moment of silence happens before the day starts, my prayer is different:
“Lord, help me be a light in their darkness. Show me how to carry You into their world today.”
And every once in a while, I see it, a softening, a smile, a breakthrough. And I remember: my light can shine in their darkness, and the darkness cannot overcome it.
John 1:5 (NIV)
“The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.”
2. Matthew 5:14–16 (NIV)
“You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden... let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.”
