Do you want to see a miracle?

Then do me a favor.  This evening, in that subdued time just when day and darkness have collided, walk outside.  A forested place, perhaps with running water, would be best.  As you stand there, you’ll hear the rhythm of the cicadas and smell the fresh scents of plants growing and blooming.  If you glance upwards, you’ll see the first pinpricks of stars emerging, twinkling in the dusk.  And then, if you look down at the grass, you’ll see the miracle—stars rising upwards to meet their friends in the sky.

Now, despite all appearances, the little lights aren’t true stars.  They’re actually tiny insects:  displaying lightning bugs, also known as fireflies.  However, when we consider these little creatures, and their powerful message, what we find is no less miraculous than stars floating up from earth.

First, some background.  Fireflies (which are neither flies nor true bugs) are one of only eight kinds of land-dwelling animals able to produce light.  This delicate phenomenon is called bioluminescence, which means “living light.”  Fireflies are able to glow thanks to a complex series of chemical reactions that take place in specially-designed organs on their lower abdomen.  One of the enzymes involved in these reactions, luciferase, is actually used in medical research to detect blood clots, tag tuberculosis virus cells, and aid in the monitoring of diseases such as cancer and diabetes. 

To make matters even more impressive, the chemical reaction is extremely efficient.  Consider a normal incandescent light bulb.  After it’s been turned on for awhile, it becomes extremely hot to the touch; in fact, an ordinary light bulb expends 90% of the energy it produces as heat and only 10% as light.  If fireflies operated with that same light-to-heat ratio, the effects could be disastrous.  However, their reactions are so efficient that a full 100% of the energy produced is used for light.  A firefly will not become hot from its own light-producing reaction.

You may be wondering if this blog is only going to provide a (hopefully) interesting yet ultimately irrelevant science lesson on the lifestyles of lightning bugs.  That’s definitely not the case.  The point of relating all this information is to emphasize a very important and very relevant truth—one that I’m reminded of each time I see a firefly glow.  That truth is this:  God didn’t have to.

We serve a God Who didn’t have to do any of this.  There was no external force pressuring Him to produce a galaxy.  He wasn’t compelled to create the mountains or the rivers or the fireflies—or you and me.  So why?  If not necessity, what motivated Him to perform such acts?  In Revelation 4:11, the elders worshiping in Heaven’s throne room give us the answer, “For thy pleasure [all things] are and were created” (KJV).

For His pleasure.  The world we see around us—in its sweeping grandeur and its tiny intricacies—is the product of the boundless imagination and creative delight of our Lord.  Like an artist pouring loving detail into his painting, God has richly endowed His world with beauty beyond belief—and a few fun surprises.  After all, if God didn’t even have to create the whole universe, He certainly didn’t have to create a little bug that lights up at night!  Who besides our great God would have thought of that?  Would we?  If God had asked our advice on a new insect species, would we have ever hinted that we’d like a light-up one?  Of course not.  But God’s imagination is so boundless that He lovingly fashioned a creature that flies around in the summer flashing its built-in light—a light that is safe, cool, efficient, and even valuable for medical research.  And He did this because He takes pleasure in it. 

And that raises another even more amazing idea.  If God’s creation gives Him pleasure—if He admires the stars and smiles at little light-up bugs—wouldn’t He be even more pleased by light-up humans?  Of course, we don’t have the bioluminescent capability to actually make our bodies glow (though wouldn’t that be interesting?).  Instead, God created us to be light in a spiritual sense—to glow with His power and love and to project that light into a world stumbling in darkness.  Just as fireflies beautify even the blackest, gloomiest night, God has chosen us to shine for Him in a fallen world.

“You are the light of the world.  A city set on a hill cannot be hidden.  Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house.  In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 5:14-16 ESV).  These verses clearly identify that God’s plan for Christians is for us to be His lightning bugs.  And why?  “So that men may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in Heaven.”  When we shed our light on the people, the places, and most of all, the situations around us, others sit up and take notice.  They watch us and wonder what’s different.  Then, people who are tired of walking in darkness are drawn toward our light, which ultimately points them toward Jesus, the true Light of the world.

There’s only one slight problem.  Although fireflies are bright for their size, they are exceedingly tiny compared to all the darkness around them.  In fact, it is said that in a totally dark room you would need about forty fireflies glowing simultaneously and continuously to read a book! 

Isn’t that how we feel at times?  Small.  Ineffective.  Even insignificant.  We hear God’s command to shine forth into the world, and we do our best to glow as brightly as we can.  At first, we are excited, ready to make a difference.  But then we look all around us at nothing but cavernous darkness, and our excitement dims as we slowly come to believe that nothing we could possibly do would lift the blackness around us even slightly.

The prophet Elijah certainly knew that feeling.  No one can doubt that he was a shining light—he delivered God’s words to wicked kings, raised people from the dead, and even called down fire from Heaven—but with an evil queen seeking his life and an apathetic audience who clung stubbornly to evil, he sank into a mire of discouragement.  Alone in the desert, he cried out to God, “It is enough; now, O LORD, take away my life, for I am no better than my fathers….I, even I only, am left, and they seek my life, to take it away” (1 Kings 19:4, 10 ESV).

Here was a man who had ceased to believe his light could affect anyone, and when we look at the darkness of our world, it’s easy for us to sink into Elijah’s hopeless attitude.  But this is when we need another important lesson from fireflies.

To understand this, it’s necessary to head to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park in the Blue Ridge Mountains of eastern Tennessee and western North Carolina.  For a two-week window in late May and early June, fireflies in this area begin blinking, just as all other fireflies do.  However, there’s a special twist to these displays—a bonus so unique that researchers, naturalists, and ordinary tourists converge on the mountains from all over the world just to witness one of these rare lightshows.  These fireflies are synchronous fireflies—meaning they all light up at once!  The resulting bright light pulses on and off as the fireflies time their lighting exactly to be in unison with each other.  Having witnessed one of these displays for myself, I assure you that it is a stunning experience that its viewers never forget.  Researcher still aren’t certain why the fireflies behave in this way, but one theory, according to park rangers, is to be noticed more readily. 

Look again at 1 Kings 19.  Don’t miss God’s answer to Elijah’s despair, because His every word is stitched with hope.  “Go, return on your way…And Jehu the son of Nimshi you shall anoint to be king over Israel, and Elisha the son of Shaphat of Abel-meholah you shall anoint to be prophet in your place….Yet I will leave seven thousand in Israel, all the knees that have not bowed to Baal, and every mouth that has not kissed him” (v. 15a-16, 18).  In other words, God assures Elijah that he’s not alone, and then he instructs him to find these fellow believers—Jehu, Elisha—and unite with them.  Elijah doesn’t have to be the lone ranger.  Instead, he can join with the other worshippers of God—the ones he didn’t even know existed!—and create a far more powerful effect.

If you feel like a tiny firefly whose light is lost in the thick darkness around you, find a friend.  Maybe two, or three, or ten.  Together, shine for God.  Before you know it, you’ll be making a huge difference.  As park rangers say, you’ll be noticed more readily.  As Jesus says, “A city on a hill cannot be hidden.”

The early Christians knew this secret.  In the book of Acts, Luke explains that they were “synchronous fireflies” of sorts.  These believers were united in fellowship, with a striking result:  the Holy Spirit descended upon them, making possible the salvation of thousands of people!  Nor is this an isolated incident.  The Book of Acts alone records half a dozen times in which the disciples are specifically mentioned as being in absolute agreement and many other references in which it is implied that they were.  With this harmony, they did more than just make some light—as Paul reminded his readers, “Their voice has gone out to all the earth, and their words to the ends of the world” (Romans 10:18 ESV).

God never intended His people to be a conglomeration of independent lights, disconnected from each other and barely more than a pinprick in the distance.  Instead, He planned for us to be synchronous fireflies—working together to create a display that would draw people from all over the world to our light and by extension to His.  One firefly alone can make a difference, of course.  But add several, all united with the same goal and shining to honor the same God, and the world is awed with a sensational, unmistakable, amazing display of God’s glory and goodness! 

So, if you want to see a miracle, go outside tonight.  Wait quietly in the dusk until the shining beacons of fireflies begin swirling in the air around you.  Marvel at the overwhelming love and imagination of the Creator, Who designed all things for His pleasure.  But if you want to not only see a miracle but also be an even greater one, gather some fellow believers and commit to radiating God’s light into the dark corners of this world. 

What are some ways you’ve been blessed by the light of others? What are some ways you could be a light to others? Let me know in the comments! Also, if you liked this post, please share it with your friends, and don’t forget to subscribe!