When the angel of the Lord appeared to Gideon, he said, “The Lord is with you, mighty warrior.” “Pardon me, my Lord,” Gideon replied, “but if the Lord is with us, why has all this happened to us? Where are all his wonders that our ancestors told us about when they said, ‘Did not the Lord bring us up out of Egypt?’ But now the Lord has abandoned us and given us into the hand of Midian.” The Lord turned to him and said, “Go in the strength you have and save Israel out of Midian’s hand. Am I not sending you?” – Judges 6:12-14

God replied to Gideons feelings of inadequacy by letting him know that he would be with him. The key to accomplishing anything is always walking in the presence of God. Knowing that God is with you will encourage you to let your light shine and be who he made you to be.

Josiah was eight years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem thirty-one years. His mother’s name was Jedidah daughter of Adaiah; she was from Bozkath. He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord and followed completely the ways of his father David, not turning aside to the right or to the left. – 2 Kings 22:1-2

God called Josiah to be king when he was 8 years old. Josiah embraced the role that God had placed him in and this verse says that he did what was right in the sight of the Lord. He didn’t shy away from what God called him to do but embraced it. Likewise, we need to boldly walk into what God has called us to do. Even if we may feel like we are unqualified for the position. God will send help for us so that we can grow and be successful.

Then the man who had received one bag of gold came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed. So I was afraid and went out and hid your gold in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you.’ “His master replied, ‘You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed? Well then, you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest. “ ‘So take the bag of gold from him and give it to the one who has ten bags. For whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them. And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. – Matthew 25:24-30

Every single one of us has some ability that God has given to us. It’s our responsibility to develop that gift and use it to be a blessing to others around us. God will ask you to give an account of what you did with your ability. So don’t hide your gift and cause it to go to waste. Invest in it. Develop it and let your light shine to bless others for his name sake.

In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom, I give you this charge: Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction. – 2 Timothy 4:1-2

As Paul is writing to Timothy here he encourages him to be ready at all times as a minister of the Gospel and correct incorrect doctrine. Timothy, knowing that he was a minister of the Gospel of Christ, knew that he had to be ready. Likewise as we are walking in our God given purpose, we need to be ready for every opportunity to let our light shine for Christ and carry out his will in our lives.

“Even so the body is not made up of one part but of many. Now if the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? But in fact God has placed the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. If they were all one part, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, but one body. – 1 Corinthians 12:14-20

We are made specifically for the purpose that God intended for us to accomplish. This passage clearly gives us that picture. We should not look at other people and be envious of them or what to be like them. If we do then there will be a gap where you were supposed to fill with your unique ability. Be you and learn how to maximize your ability in your position. This is the only way for you to have peace and contentment every day.

Now I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that what has happened to me has actually served to advance the gospel. As a result, it has become clear throughout the whole palace guard and to everyone else that I am in chains for Christ. And because of my chains, most of the brothers and sisters have become confident in the Lord and dare all the more to proclaim the gospel without fear. – Philippians 1:12-14

Paul embraced his role as an apostle for Christ by looking at the benefit of his work and troubles. He know that he would be imprisoned for preaching the Gospel but he embraced his role and let his light shine for Christ as he did. Even if it got him in trouble as we read here. I’m sing this passage of Scripture, we can remind ourselves that there is always a greater benefit when we serve God by walking out our purpose. Even if we are going through a tough season for the moment. God is faithful.

The word of the Lord came to Jonah son of Amittai: “Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before me.” But Jonah ran away from the Lord and headed for Tarshish. He went down to Joppa, where he found a ship bound for that port. After paying the fare, he went aboard and sailed for Tarshish to flee from the Lord. – Jonah 1:1-3

Now Jonah tried to run from what God called him to do. Jonah’s light would shine the brightest when he went to Nineveh to deliver the message that God intended for him to deliver. Instead, Jonah ran and we know what happened to him. One of the many lessons that we can learn from this is that we let our lights shine by obeying what God leads us to do. If we run the opposite direction we can end up in a turbulent situation. We let our light by obeying God.