June Yates-Boykin

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The motel lobby was small, but well designed and clean.  I have checked into many oceanfront motels over the years, using our Florida coasts as three-to-four-day retreats.  This visit was to the Atlantic and the motel was nice, but not extravagant.  Nothing much to take notice of as I waited for the clerk to complete her phone call, but one thing did capture my attention.  I wondered why I didn’t already know what I was reading.  I was raised in Florida and visited the beaches throughout my lifetime more times than I would be able to remember.  I should have known this.  There were extra copies, so I grabbed one and took it along with my key.  It was a flyer with large, bold letters forming the heading:

LIGHTS OUT FOR SEA TURTLES

The flyer welcomed the reader to Volusia County, a special part of Florida with several species of threatened and endangered sea turtles.  Okay, that much I knew.  Here’s what I didn’t know entirely, quoting that flyer:

During the sea turtle nesting season, May 1 through October 31, female turtles come ashore to lay their eggs in the dry sands above the tide line.  About two months later the baby turtles (hatchlings) emerge from their nest and instinctively race to the ocean.  Lights adjacent to the beach confuse hatchlings often leading them away from the ocean and toward a certain death.

Instructions were then given to keep lights off and drapes or blinds closed at night when the room was lighted. 

               I knew sea turtles were born on the beach and ran to the ocean, but I was saddened to learn that lights from the motel rooms could confuse the newborns and lead them toward a certain death.  Unless something interfered, I took my mini sabbaticals in May and September of each year.  Had my lights been a source of confusion for these hatchlings?

               Because a couple of weeks passed and I still thought on the words of that flyer, I was not surprised when God dealt with me about the spiritual ramifications of man-made light in our lives.

               For a moment, pretend you’re a sea turtle and your salvation is that moment you hatch out of your egg – your new birth.  You find yourself in dry sand, and somehow know that’s not where you belong.  By faith you know that God has a perfect plan for you.  He has already prepared a place where you will be nourished and thrive, where you will grow strong and fulfill your destiny in Him.  He has already laid out the path to get you there.  “Instinctively”, which is Holy Spirit communing with your spirit, you turn to run toward the sea that is His word, His fellowship, His presence, His love, and most importantly, His will for your life. 

               Then something catches your attention.  Is that a light you see?  Yes, it is.  A light inviting you to come and stay.  Now what do you do?  Which way do you go? You are drawn in one direction, but the other appears to be the easier, safer way.  The confusion begins.

               The sad truth is, if you turn toward those lights, you may be headed to a certain death.

               The sad truth is, if you turn toward those lights, you may be headed to a certain death.

There is a path before each person that seems right, but it ends in death. Proverbs 14:12 NLT

God is so merciful, but we must realize that we pay consequences for disobedience and for turning from the perfect path God laid out for us.  Our “death” may manifest in our finances, our hopes and dreams, our health, our relationships, or in other important aspects of our lives.  The worst case would be the eternal death of our soul. 

               We can recognize our poor choices and repent.  God is faithful and just to forgive us, and He can restore us to our rightful place.  But from experience I can assure you, better it is not to run toward those lights in the first place. 

               Distracting lights can take many different forms.  The devil can come as an angel of light (2 Corinthians 11:14), and he is ultimately behind all confusion and death (1 Corinthians 14:33, John 10:10).    However, we must recognize that the lights that draw us from our destiny are often those which we flip on in our own hearts and minds. 

               Today I share with you two of the most prevalent.

1.  The light of self.  When self flips on the balcony light, we see a room full of life our way.  There is material gain.  Our name is up in lights and our posts are going viral.  We see having what we want, when we want it.  We see ourselves doing only that we want to do, and only when it fits into our schedule.

               The confusion begins because we tell ourselves, after all, that Jesus said He came that we might have abundant life.  The word says He will grant the desires of our heart, and that we can have whatsoever we ask.   (John 10:10, Psalm 37:4, John 15:16).  So this must not be the Holy Spirit telling me to do a certain thing I don’t want to do, or leading me to a given place where I don’t really want to go. 

               Holy Spirit tries to lead us into sacrificial living and obedience to God that bring about the abundant life, the fulfillment of the desires of our heart, and all the other promises of God.  We instead turn away to the light that has confused us and caused us to believe that what we want and have been promised is in the other direction. 

               Jonah got confused and headed to the light of self when he did not want to preach to the Ninevites.  He wound up swallowed by a whale.  I spent enough days in the belly of a fish to know that what I really want is found in an ocean that may not seem pleasing to me but leads me to the riches of God’s favor on my life.

Again, a second time, He went away and prayed, saying, “O My Father, if this cup cannot pass away from Me unless I drink it, Your will be done.”  Matthew 26:42 NKJV

Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you. John 15:16 KJV

I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.  Romans 12:1 NKJV

2.  The light of human reasoning.  This light appears on the balcony next door to self.  It’s just as bright and confusing, though not as selfish. 

               We want to please God.  We are willing to go and do and be whatever He wills for us.  We trust Him with our future.  Yet, confusion sets in as this light of human reasoning shines just a few feet away.  

               We rationalize, “The pull toward that huge, dark, cold, scary ocean is definitely real, so it could be God.  On the other hand, God is a God of light, and my hesitation is probably Holy Spirit telling me to head toward the light.  It doesn’t make sense that God would draw me from this dry sand and light into that dark water. Or does it?”

               This confusion is not limited to ministry or witnessing.  It can operate whenever we are facing major decisions of any kind.  We pray and ask God for guidance, but often follow the light to destruction because when God answers us it doesn’t sense or sound like something God would say.

               Abraham’s blessing began with instructions to pack up and move away from his home and family without even knowing his destination.  The path that catapulted Jesus into His powerful ministry started when He was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to fast for forty days (Luke 4).  Jesus was later led into a garden of betrayal.  That dark place began the final steps to the joy that had been set before Him (Hebrews 12:2).

               We know God has a wonderful plan and great promises for our lives.  Sometimes they are found in places we would least expect – those places that from a distance appear dark, overpowering, and fearful. This may not be the way we expected God to take us.  The blessing may not be waiting where we thought it would.  Trust God, follow the leading of the Holy Spirit. Seek Him until you’re certain then run quickly in His direction.  He will be there to help you grow and prosper.

⁵ Lean on, trust in, and be confident in the Lord with all your heart and mind and do not rely on your own insight or understanding.  ⁶ In all your ways know, recognize, and acknowledge Him, and He will direct and make straight and plain your paths.  Proverbs 3:5,6 AMPC

³ And I will give you the treasures of darkness and hidden riches of secret places, that you may know that it is I, the Lord, the God of Israel, Who calls you by your name. Isaiah 45:3 AMPC

How can we combat the confusion when the lights are on and the shades are open that draw us away from our blessing?  Only through an ongoing, ever-growing relationship with Jesus.  He’s our only protection. 

               We do that through study and practice of His word.  Psalm 119:105 assures us that His word is a lamp for our feet and a light for our path.

               We build our relationship  with Him through prayer without ceasing – a continual acknowledgment of and conversation with Holy Spirit.  We must also crucify this flesh and learn to submit to God’s will.  He alone knows the path that has been laid out to get us to the place of blessing, and the lights of self and human reasoning will not lead us down that path.

               Consider what happens to the hatchlings who follow their instincts and run into the cold, dark sea with unfamiliar surroundings and creatures. They become the largest of all turtles!  Even the smaller species can reach 3 ½ feet long and weigh up to 350 pounds.  The largest species grows to up to 8′ in length and weigh as much as 2000 pounds.  Stand that next to a Florida gopher turtle and see the difference in growth and power, especially considering a hatchling is a mere two to four inches long.

               This world is full of artificial lights that are designed to confuse you and lure you away from your blessing.  I addressed only a couple that come from our own hearts, but there are many shining from the motel windows of this life. Sadly I tell you that when it comes to seeing you blessed of God, the world is not going to heed to the call to turn lights off for sea turtles.    

               It’s up to you to keep your eyes and heart set on Jesus.  Be led by the Spirit.

               Be the hatchling that does not turn away from the path God prepared so you can be known among the largest and most powerfully blessed of God’s children.          

               Don’t let the artificial lights of this world confuse you and draw you off course.  Stay focused on the true Light, Jesus.

©2023

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