This may sound a bit odd but today I had to face a project that I have been dreading. Changing lightbulbs. See -- I told you it would sound a bit odd!

We have nine recessed lights in our family room ceiling that are very hard to change the bulbs in. To change them easily, your fingers need to be much smaller than mine and your patience much greater.

For that reason, I typically let them go in their burned-out state for as long as I can. This time, we have had three of the nine burned out for several weeks ... okay, probably months.

As I was fussing around to change them today, I thought to myself about how we always have so many things to do. So many things more important than messing around changing stubborn lightbulbs. That is why three of them were burned out before I finally changed them. It has to be pretty dark before I will mess around putting forth the effort to see the light.

Wow. Isn't that the way it often is with our lives, too? Things have to be pretty dark before we will put out serious effort to seek the light. God was there to meet us all along but there's something special about that prodigal son story and the impact it has when the darkness gets so dark that pride is swallowed, extra effort is put out, and grace is accepted. All to seek the light.