I may be unusually conditioned to writing about lighthouses. I grew up in a fishing village on the north coast of British Columbia in western Canada, just a few miles from the panhandle of Alaska. People there knew about severe storms and the dangers to the fishing fleet from such storms. Lighthouses were crucial to these men at sea.

Lighthouses were strategically placed where the greatest dangers lurked. A lighthouse was a savior to a sailor in the night during a bad storm. The sailor had the lighthouses carefully marked in his mariner's chart. He knew where to look for them. It often meant his very life!

I had the wonderful experience of knowing the value of a lighthouse from the shore and from the sea. For the families on shore, when their husbands and fathers were at sea, the lighthouse was a sign of hope and encouragement. As long as the light kept making its complete circle, sending forth light in all directions, they were encouraged that the men at sea would make it to safety in the harbor. In times of treacherous fog, the lighthouse also sounded a loud and distinctive foghorn. As a boy, when I heard the foghorns moaning, I knew the ships were in fog, and I prayed.

While I was in university I worked as a deckhand on a coast freighter. It went along the coast bringing needed supplies to remote and isolated villages. As the ship plowed through the dark night, I would look for the lighthouses along the coast and knew they could mean my life. The lighthouses guided us through treacherous waters where many a ship had been lost at sea.

You, too, have been strategically placed by God to give light to others in the darkness who are in treacherous and unrelenting storms of life. You must let your light shine before others, giving them clear direction and hope, and a way to safety! Your light is Jesus Christ. He lives within you. When others clearly see and hear Christ through you, they can find their way to spiritual safety. Those to whom you witness may suddenly see the way home to God!

It is absolutely terrifying to see only darkness, with no light, no reference point for life. In that darkness there is no sign of hope, and dangers are all around that can "sink their ship." God has placed you carefully where others who desperately need His light to guide them will pass by. You are that light.

Storms of life may come up unexpectedly and suddenly. It may be in your home, church, neighborhood or in your workplace. The night comes on quickly. Many people have no reference point for their lives, no map or spiritual chart to point out the dangers. They can't find their way to safety. Your witness is life to them!

The author of Experiencing God, Henry Blackaby is special assistant to the president, for Prayer and Spiritual Awakening, North American Mission Board.