“Not all that glitters is gold; not all that sparkles is glory dust! It takes focus to follow the pillar of cloud by day, and courage to follow the pillar of fire by night!”

These are the words that resonated in my spirit a couple of days ago at 3am in the morning.

It has long been apparent that so many love to chase the shiny thing, the loud thing, the big thing, and none of those are wrong in and of themselves. The question I ask is, “where are you meant to be, who are you meant to be running with, what are you called to do in this hour?”

Not all that sparkles in Christian activity is glory dust. The shiny, bright loud thing is not necessarily where we are all called to go. The crowds, big names, bright lights are exciting, even intoxicating, but it’s time to stop the merry-go-round and get off at our stop.

We are at a crossroads right now! What are you going to choose?

Where are you called to serve? What are you called to build? Where do you gather to grow?

Time is of the essence. Most of us are over trained and under utilized, waiting for a leader to identify our gift and give us some golden pass. It doesn’t happen that way. We all need to just serve right where we are, amid the community in which we live. And I do not mean the church community, I mean, really out there in the real world!

Let’s be the feet on the ground where ever we go.

As a people, we Christians are probably some of the most over educated believers to have ever existed, but what are we doing with all that training? In Jesus’ time, it was the Hebraic way to teach and then go do. The students would return and, with some experience under their belt, receive further mentorship, and so they would again go do.

This form of education is counter cultural in our Greek education systems, where we learn, learn, learn, and then go “practice.” But, as someone who went to university for 5 years to become educated in the law, even I had to go out eventually into the world and “practice!” I went out to practice law, in a legal practice!

It really is time to take what we know out! Take whatever you find in your hand, and go give it away. Watch it multiply and grow as you do. Then, as you give it away, listen to the Holy Spirit for further direction and coaching. He is a brilliant teacher, counsellor, and comforter! I also encourage you, plug into a gathering where other people will also encourage you, train you, people who are further down the road than you. There you will grow, and it is not necessarily the most shiny bright thing out there, for we will all have seasons of growth in hidden places, and in hidden times.

It will take focus to follow the cloud by day, and courage to follow the pillar of fire by night, but I encourage you, it’s time!

So I ask, where are you called to go, who are your people? Where is the cloud in your life, and are you willing to follow the pillar of fire by night? It’s time to be a people of presence, not performance. So let’s gather to grow and take the goodness of God out! It truly is time to get out of the box and shine!

“By day the LORD went ahead of them in a pillar of cloud to guide them on their way and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, so that they could travel by day or night.” – Exodus 13:21

© Beth Kennedy 2024