How Prisms are Encouraging to Me in a Tough Holiday Season

How are you? I mean really. I’ve found this holiday season to be a tough one. How about you?

As you know, I’ve been slowly scratching and crawling my way back from Covid. The residual effects have really plagued me. But more than that – perhaps exacerbated by that – I’ve felt a heaviness that is not normal for me this time of year.

I know many people struggle through the holidays. Is that you? If so, feel as though I see you more clearly this year. And that makes me grateful for the burden. I’ve shared this verse before, but here it is again:

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and the God of all comfort. He comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any kind of affliction, through the comfort we ourselves receive from God.

2 Corinthians 1:3, 4

If you’ve been on the Back Porch in the last few months, you know I’ve been playing with prisms. I’ve been crafting with them and hanging them in my windows. God has been using them as object lessons to help me grasp His truth.

Click here to see how it all started.

He has also used them to bring me comfort these past weeks. As I’ve been laid up, I’ve been blessed by the rainbows refracting from my prisms. They show up in one spot, disappear as the clouds blow in front of the sun, and reappear in another spot when the sunlight returns. Their vibrant radiance has brought me joy!

3 more meaningful truths God has highlighted for me through these prisms:

I posted 5 meaningful truths God highlighted for me through my prisms several weeks ago. And God has taught me 3 more specific things as I’ve observed His sunlight refracting through the glass recently. These are not new ideas; in fact they are ones I would have claimed to already know. But they have been brought to the forefront in a fresh and radiant way, inspiring me to apply them anew in my life.

6. With God, you can be so much greater than yourself.

“I am able to do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”

Philippians 4:13

There may only be a single prism, with tiny facets of cut glass, hanging in my window, but the rainbows that shine on my wall are many and much larger than that through which they shine. This is encouraging because it reminds me that, when I allow God to shine through me, He is enough. He emerges more beautiful and much more substantial than me. With God, you can be so much greater than yourself.

7. Together, we make a greater impact.

“And let us consider how we may spur one another on towards love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another – and all the more as you see the Day approaching.”

Hebrews 10:24, 25 (emphasis mine)

I received a request to make several Back Porch Prisms for a friend to give as gifts. As I completed them, I placed them, side by side, on one of my windows. When the sun swung around the house and suddenly shone through that gathering of prisms, my kitchen lit up in so many rainbows, I couldn’t count them.

My kitchen in the glow of several prisms hanging together. Just think what a beautiful impact God can have on the world when His people gather together and let Him shine through them!

God’s light will shine through me, and it will be substantial. But there are no words for what that light can do when multiplied exponentially through a multitude of people who are willing vessels. Together, we make a greater impact.

8. A true encounter with Jesus demands a response.

“For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.”

1 Corinthians 1:18

My husband disliked the prism I hung in our car. From my height, I only saw the rainbows scattered about, but being taller than me, he was in just the right spot for the sunlight to refract into his eyes. When that happened, he had the instinctive need to block it. What I saw as beautiful was an eyesore (literally!) to him.

Isn’t that true of Jesus as well? To those who have a relationship with Him, He is radiant and precious. Those who don’t know Him can feel pained and uncomfortable in his presence. But one thing is for sure; a true encounter with Jesus demands a response. It might be praise or repentance; or it might be to cower away from His light.

I adjusted the length of the prism in our car, and it now brings us both joy. We cannot do that with God though, can we? He is perfect. When we have an issue with Him, we are the ones who need to change. And we serve such a good God that He is willing to help us because, on our own, we can never please Him.

“Those who are in the realm of the flesh cannot please God. You, however, are not in the realm of the flesh but are in the realm of the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you.”

Romans 8:8, 9a

If you think you, or someone you know, might like a Porch Prism, I am selling them. They come with a little card, listing the first 5 Prism Principles and a QR code which links to the full post. You will find more information HERE. If you need to contact me, my email address is mamalavasbackporch@gmail.com.