The Measure of Shine in Our Dark Hours

Written by Troy Norton

Brenda’s was the prayer request that I held in my hands on one particular Thursday morning at our daily 10:00 am staff prayer time.  I saw her prayer request was written on the New Donor form we had from the April 16^th Impact Day we just concluded. She gave $100 to the radio station and there was an attached note, “Pray for me to find a job.” I kept doing a double take at the $100 and looking back at the “Pray for me to find a job”.  I kept thinking…there must be a mistake…must be a typo. Did she just give that much out of just faith?

Several years back I was out of work, and my message to my family and the world was, “There is a total freeze on all non-essential money that is not directly related to survival.” I was so moved that Brenda stepped out in the middle of her need and gave from her heart to help us reach others who need to hear the encouragement of Christ. It reminded me of the woman that Jesus spoke about who gave just a couple of pennies in the temple, but Jesus said it was the greatest gift. Brenda gave a great gift and this humbled me today…it made me want to be more like her. Even in her time of need she is shining Jesus. In my time of need I have a tendency to lose my shine and, unfortunately, those are our defining moments in life. Those are the moments that our shine is often looked at the most.

I could not resist…I called Brenda on the phone and told her how her gift touched my life so much by setting that example for me. I lean toward the tendency to give mostly out of my excess. In light of where she is financially in her life – she gave a gift much bigger than any gift I think I have ever given anyone.

I asked her if she would please let me pray with her for a job. We prayed together and she was so positive about it. She was so confident that no matter what happened, God is guiding her situation. Then she shared with me how important a role our station plays in her life for encouragement and then she went on to encourage me! In my ignorance I thought I was going to be the encouraging one. Thank you, Brenda.