Do Not Destroy What Is Coming Into The Light

By Christopher Reggiardo

I must begin by confessing that I am stubborn, single-minded, and love fishing. I am not randomly confessing these as faults--although they appear to be random and many would claim them to be faults--I am trying to set the stage for a beautiful moment of revelation that I recently experienced at an intercessory prayer meeting. As the day of prayer was drawing to a close, the prayer group leaders felt that Our Lord wished to minister to the body of intercessors and we began to pray for each person in the room one at a time. It is hard to walk away an unchanged person after over a dozen prayer warriors, who have been immersed in prayer all day, take the time to focus their prayers and attention on you.

The Problem:

At that moment in my life I was faced with an old friend that was behaving in a scandalous manner while maintaining positions of authority in the community and, as a lay person, in the church. My frustration was mounting as I watched those in authority, who knew what was happening, fail to take action and I was questioning the Lord through prayer as to what I should be doing.

On being stubborn:

Being stubborn and single-minded is a gift that the Lord has given me to cling to my faith and seek The Face of God even when everything around me was being destroyed (including my old self). This gift can also allow me to act very decisively based on what scripture says. It is prayer and discernment that makes the difference between doing a great work and doing a great harm. The most profound example is in Paul's (Saul's) persecution of the church and his later defense of the faith.

Through those gathered in prayer, the Lord first gave me words that cautioned me against using the power of Holy Scripture to do harm. The vision was of a fire fighter who controlled the nozzle of a large and powerful hose and the word was not to use the focused stream but rather to spray around the fire to put it out. This word spoke to me, as my brother is a fire fighter and he has told me that the focused stream is great for punching holes in walls, but the spray creates steam which smothers the fire and puts it out.

The Lord then sent a series of words concerning light and dark and gray. Well, things are either good (light) or bad (dark), what are these words about gray? I could not ignore these words as they were coming from several people I have found able to hear the Lords voice; yet, I could not receive these words as they did not fit into my limited view of Gods creation. I turned to the Lord and confessed that I was not hearing His message as given through His servants. The Lord then spoke to me in as nearly an audible voice as I have ever heard (He knew I was beginning to have trouble hearing) and said, "As the sun (Son) is rising, do not destroy what is coming into the light." I had a vision of the sun rising and long shadows that were casting many things into the gray that would later be brought into the fullness of the light. I also had a sense that this spoke of Our Lords rising to His full glory here on earth and that He was the light.

On being single-minded:

As powerful as this message was, I felt compelled to test this word against God's Word as revealed in Sacred Scripture. At first glance (remember, I am stubborn and single-minded), I thought that The Bible only made a reference to this in Revelation 3:14-16 where the Lord spoke against the church in Laodicea because they were neither hot (light) or cold (dark). Our Lord rejected them because they were lukewarm (gray). It was only later that I saw that I had missed the point entirely, as all of Scripture speaks of this phenomena each time it records the beauty of a soul converted. I cannot even begin to quote all of the places where the Bible talks of walking in darkness and the light of Christ, but I must quote John 1:5 which refers to Christ Jesus when it says, "The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it." (RSV)

Now I see that I too am walking in the gray as I approach Jesus, because His light shines ever brighter as I come to Him. I say this because all that is not in the light is in the gray as it fades toward darkness. This again speaks of our constant need for conversion, so we can live in the light which is Christ Jesus.

An application:

I now wish to share an application of this concept (the Lord also understands that I often need to see something applied before I can appreciate it). One day I was talking to someone well on his way to conversion. He was following a path through the apocalyptic scriptures that I, and many of my friends, have trod (it seems that men are more prone to follow this path). My reaction was to temper this enthusiastic soul with; "Yes, Jesus is coming, but He may not be here by next week." Fortunately, by a grace from God, my response was to stop and appreciate all that he was learning and to gently correct any error that I might discern. I now see that this man was in the gray and the Lord was bringing him into the light.

On being a fisherman:

The Lord showed a great appreciation for fishermen while on earth and I believe He referred to his disciples as fishers of men (Mt 5:19) because He wanted them to do more than just haul in what they could catch. The real joy in fishing (I warned you at the beginning of this article that I loved fishing) is not just in catching the fish, but in playing the fish on the line. This is why fishing can be either a sport or a very hard job. Once the Lord has hooked us, He will not drag us in against our free will; He plays us until we are in the boat with Him. For many men, the Lord's most effective bait appears to be the apocalyptic scriptures. Had I reacted to this new convert by quenching his spirit, I would have destroyed what was coming into the light.

The Solution:

I now understand that I have the power to use the full force of scripture as a weapon to blast away all that does not agree with my understanding of God's way. I also understand that I can use the gentle spray of many members of Christ's body to surround my friend with prayer and love. For if I do not have love, I have nothing... [1 Cor 13]

A Final Question:

Now I must ask you, is there anything still in the gray in your life that you are trying to destroy?

Christopher Reggiardo is assistant editor of “Living Water” and fishes in the South Bay.

Printed in the April 1997 issue of the "Living Water." Published for the Charismatic Renewal in the Diocese of San Jose, California. Permission to copy is granted, as long as proper credit is given.