Enlightening

Thomas
Tuchyna, Perth

Isn’t it amazing how the Lord can use just about any event, natural or man made to
illustrate a certain point in our lives? Take for example the
production of x-ray images on film, a process that has no doubt been
used on us or someone we know, to reveal the otherwise hidden
information about our bodies.

X-ray images are typically generated on a film, which is similar to normal
photographic film. The photosensitive layer, which is extremely thin,
at about a tenth of the thickness of a human hair, is made up of many
tiny grains of complex molecules that contain silver. On its own, the
film will not record an image, so it is placed inside a cassette
which, when exposed to x-rays, will glow with very faint light. It is
the faint glow of light that causes three or four grains of silver in
the photosensitive layer to clump together. The three or four grains
of silver, form the gray shades of an x-ray image. Since three or
four gray grains of silver cannot be seen, the film is placed in a
solution that contains many billions of silver grains. In this
solution many silver particles attach themselves to the three or
four, causing the invisible speck to grow and the invisible image to
become visible because of a great amplification in the number of
silver grains.

Let’s look at this example from another perspective. On our own, that is
our carnal nature, we are not very sensitive to God or his word so
his word needs to be moderated in order to enlighten us and produce
the required effect in our hearts or minds. We read
“How can a young man cleanse his way? By taking heed according to
Your word.” ( Psalm 119:9 ).
And also that “…it pleased God through the foolishness
of the message preached to save those who believe” ( 1 Cor. 1:21 ).

Much like the cassette that is used to illuminate the x–ray film, we
need to have God's word preached to us so that it can produce the
desired effect in our heart.  The word of God tells us that “…
the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes…” ( Psalm 19:8 ).

Every time God speaks to us, small grains of truth are born in our hearts
and they become a witness of His spirit in us as
“The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are the
children of God,” ( Rom. 8:16 ). At first
the results of His word, the preaching and a witness of His Spirit
may just be very small, so that the effects of God’s word may not
be seen. It is not until the Lord, as the supreme chemist, places us
in the right environment or solution that the small effect can become
visible, just like in the x-ray image.  The three or four grains of
silver are not very evident at first, but the Lord knows the exact
circumstances we need in our lives for that truth to grow and become
evident. We seldom know the reason why we find ourselves neck deep in
situations, particularly if we did not plan for them. Yet it is
exactly these situations, or solutions, that the Lord uses to amplify
within us the truth that lays hidden to the eyes of man.

So the next time you are exposed to the preaching of his word, God’s
x-rays, just pause for a moment and think what truth God desires to
reveal and amplify in your life.

Created on 29/05/2002 17:01:00