True Radiance–How to Glow from the Inside

“If you are filled with light, with no dark corners, then your whole life will be radiant, as though a floodlight were filling you with light.” Luke 11:36 NLT

Several years ago I met a woman named Wanda at a weekend retreat. I noticed her countenance the moment she walked into the prayer meeting before the first session began.

Wanda glowed

The next evening, I had the opportunity to tell Wanda what I’d noticed. “You’re radiant,” I said. “Tell me what’s going on in your life.”

Wanda smiled and then shared her testimony with me. You can read her story in my book Moving from Fear to Freedom: A Woman’s Guide to Peace in Every Situation, but in short form she’d been to the brink and back with a drug-addicted and imprisoned husband for years.

Her marriage eventually ended in divorce. She moved to a new city to start over again with her two kids. And then her teenage son was shot by a stranger at a friend’s birthday party. Thankfully he survived, but his life hung in a balance for several days in the ICU.

Through all her hardships, Wanda found strength and direction in God’s word. She’d grown to know Him intimately. Jesus, the light of life, filled her life. He shone His truth into every nook, every cranny, every corner. The result? His radiance beamed through her eyes and her smile.

Skin care and cosmetics aren’t all bad. But wow—can you imagine the difference if we were to give our spiritual well-being the same care and attention as we give our physical appearance? Let’s ensure that our radiance comes from the inside first and foremost, by allowing Jesus, the light of life, to fill our every nook, cranny, and corner.