Isaiah 42:6

“I am the Lord; I have called you in righteousness; I will take you by the hand and keep you; I will give you as a covenant for the people, a light for the nations, to open the eyes that are blind, to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon, from the prison those who sit in darkness.” –Isaiah 42:6
 
This week I have been learning what it means to walk step in step with God. This verse has encouraged me so much, I just love the picture of God taking me by the hand and walking with me, instead of allowing me to walk by myself. He not only calls us, but he then takes us by the hand and keeps us. But the second part of this verse is what has really meant a lot to me this past week, when the Lord says that He has given us as a light for the nations. I’ve been focusing on the word light a lot in my quiet time with the Lord as well as in ministry. Being at the children’s hospital this week brought this image to mind numerous times. Hospitals are always sad, but children’s hospitals are heartbreaking. It doesn’t matter whether I am in Guatemala with children I’ve never met before, or in the United States with my own family, they are always heartbreaking. I think that I have more of a heart for the sick children here because I’ve experienced firsthand at home how hard it is to have a child you love in the hospital. I just know how encouraging it can be when even a little bit of light is brought into a situation as hard as sitting alongside a sick child in a hospital bed. On Tuesday when went to the children’s hospital we brought a packet of crayons and a coloring book and you would have thought we brought the most exciting thing in the world. These three little boys specifically that I was coloring with were so excited to be able to color, even though all three of them only had one arm to color with cause they were all there for broken arms. While they colored I got the chance to talk to their moms, well as much as I could. My Spanish is improving but still not very good. It was just a wonderful experience, I really felt like we were able to bring a little bit of light to their day. And honestly if all I’m able to do while I’m here is shine a little bit of the light of the Lord on people, it would be worth coming.