Shining in the Darkness

This evening, as the daylight began to dim, my husband looked out at the shed in the backyard where we have a solar light attached to the right of the door and remarked that it hadn't come on yet, though other solar lights in the yard were burning. Looking out a little later though, it had finally begun to shine.

It made me curious to find out how solar lights work.  There's a solar cell that changes the sunlight into direct electrical current.  That cell is the dark panel you see on the top of the light. Without getting into all the technical jargon, the short story is there are layers of negatively-charged electrons and positively-charged spaces in the cell and when the sunlight comes through the cell, it stirs up those negatively-charged electrons and forces them into the positively-charged spaces. This, in turn, transfers the electron stream into a direct current of electricity which is stored in a battery until it is needed.

Later, when there is no sunlight to convert, a photoreceptor senses that it is dark and the light turns on, supplied by the battery which has stored the power. The light will shine as long as there is power in the battery or until the photoreceptor registers that the daylight has returned.

So why am I writing a science blog today?  As usual, God takes the mundane things in life and shows me something that I can apply to my life.  We are like the solar light.  Our spirit is like the solar cell soaking up the sunlight of the glory and love of God which can push the negatives in our lives into positive new places.  This opens us up to the power of the Holy Spirit which we "store" in our hearts and shine on others when His light is needed in their lives. We will have moments in our lives when we will sense that a situation is in darkness and we'll know that it's time to release what God has given to us. Just like the solar light, we can only shine as long as there is power within us, so we should constantly be seeking to be in the beautiful light of His presence so we can stay continually filled.