It’s Tuesday. You’ve gotten up early, had a cup of Starbuck’s, and read the Express on your Metro trip to work. You had a laugh reading the humor column. It’s a gorgeous day outside. You get to the office, and begin your day. Everything is going so well, then—BAM!—something happens that throws a kink in the system. Maybe it’s something you forgot to do yesterday, and now you’re sweating to get it done. Maybe you get the “blue screen of death” and lose the work you’ve been doing for the last hour. Or worse…maybe your boss tells you that it’s your last day and that you should pack your things.

Suddenly, that beautiful day doesn’t seem so pretty. It feels like everyone is in your way as you negotiate the sidewalk, trudging home. The train takes forever and to top it all off, you trip on the steps of your front porch. “What a day,” you utter under your breath.

We’ve all had days like this. Where we ask ourselves, “wouldn’t my day have been better if I had just stayed in bed?”

Now, I’d be willing to bet that a majority of you have heard the saying, “when God closes a door, he opens a window.” Remember that task you forgot to do yesterday? Well, plans changed anyway, so you lucked out and didn’t waste any precious time. The blue screen of death? The new draft was much, much better. And losing your job? It was just the springboard you needed to find your true calling.

The term Epiphany, means “to show” or “to reveal.” And in these rather dark moments in our lives, God reveals himself to us—sometimes in ironic or humorous ways.

We hear it in Matthew’s gospel:

“…the people who sat in darkness have seen a great light, and for those who sat in the region and shadow of death light has dawned.”

Jesus journey to Galilee was to be the light—for God to reveal himself. And with little effort, four fisherman put down their nets to simply follow and be shown how to be the light for others.

Now, as we are rounding out of Epiphany, we are ever reminded that Jesus was our gift. He was the teacher for us to follow—to believe in. And he guides us through these dark waters on our stormy seas. Like a beacon on a shoreline, he brings us home. So as we press on with this season of Epiphany for just a short while longer, we need to keep our faith on the forefront: to remember that there is always something to look forward to when everything seems all wrong.

And when all is bright for us, we mustn’t forget that we, too, are beacons for other’s dark waters. Even if it isn’t what we do every day, the littlest efforts can make the biggest impacts.

So tonight, I’ll leave you with a few questions you can ponder, that you can take with you in the coming weeks prior to Lent:

1. In what ways has God revealed himself to me lately?
2. Have I been too eager to reflect on what happens to me, instead of why it did?
3. When I’m in a good place, do I remember to put down my net and be a light for others?