Windows and Light
{Saturday Stories diverges from the Sunday - Friday daily devotional structure. These are simple stories from life. Sometimes there is a moral to the story, and sometimes it is just a story. I hope you enjoy them. May the Lord bless you today.}
Our flight arrived late Thursday night in Antananarivo, Madagascar. Mark, our host, had arranged an Air BnB for the three of us (Dennis, Derrick, and me) for the night. Like many homes in these settings, the property was bordered by a tall concrete wall and was accessible only through an iron gate that was manned with 24-hour security.
Friday morning, after a brief night of rest, I sat down at the dining room table to spend a few moments reading my Bible before we headed out for the activities planned for that day. I laughed to myself when I looked across the room into the kitchen. The view from the window over the kitchen sink was completely blocked by the yellowish-brown stucco of the concrete security wall, standing only inches from the exterior wall of the house.
“Absurd,” I thought. “Why put a window where the only thing you can look at is a giant, ugly slab of concrete?”
I looked down and picked up my reading. That’s when it dawned on me. The window wasn’t there for me to see out. It exists to let light in. Without it I would have been sitting in gloom, unable to read, stumbling around in darkness, learning little, seeing nothing.
People sometimes say preachers shouldn’t tell stories or use illustrations in their sermons. Charles Spurgeon said that illustrations were like windows, letting light fall on the text. He also said you don’t want a house that is all windows. You don’t want a sermon that is all stories and illustrations, but a few well-chosen ones can help.
I know most of you reading this are not preachers. But most of you listen to preachers. If your pastor uses a story or an illustration while preaching, he’s just trying to install a window to let some light in so you aren’t stumbling around in the dark.
