Have you ever noticed what happens when you walk into a dark room? You don't fight the darkness. In fact, you don't argue with it. You don't yell at it. You don't complain about it. You simply turn on a light, and instantly everything changes. The darkness doesn't slowly negotiate its way out. Guess what? It disappears. And I've been thinking about that a lot lately because I think many of us spend our lives complaining about the darkness around us instead of becoming the light within us. We complain about culture, about politics, about the next generation, about social media, about negativity, about division, about the world, you know, and maybe some of those concerns are valid. But here's the question I keep coming back to: What if the answer isn't talking more about the darkness? What if the answer is becoming more intentional about the light? What if one encouraging conversation or one act of kindness or one decision to forgive or one courageous step, one person choosing hope could change more than we realize? And that's what I wanna talk to you about today Welcome to Pilot Light. I am your host Josh, and if this is your first time listening, I am really glad you're here. And if you've been with me through season one, thank you. Seriously. You have encouraged me more than you'll probably ever know. You know, season one was about rediscovering who we are, learning to stop performing, learning to stop comparing, learning to stop letting fear make our decisions, learning to become who we were created to be. But this season, we're going somewhere new because once your own pilot light is burning, hopefully it's burning, it's time to help someone else's. So wherever you're listening from, whether you're driving to work or you're trying to convince yourself to buy one more coffee because it's actually an investment in productivity or you're standing in the garage looking for a tool that's almost certainly in the exact same place that you already checked three times, or you're pretending, "I'm guilty of this," you're just resting your eyes when everyone in the house knows you fell asleep in the recliner. Hey, guess what? I am so glad that you are here. Let's light the pilot light You know, a few months ago, I started this podcast with one simple hope. I just wanted to help people. That's it. No massive platform, no grand strategy, no guarantees, just one conversation at a time. And something beautiful really started happening. People began reaching out, not because the podcast was perfect, but because they saw themselves in the conversations we were having. Someone wrote to tell me that they felt understood. Someone else said that they finally had language for what they had been feeling. Another person shared an episode with a friend who desperately needed it, and it reminded me of something that I've believed for years, that people don't need another lecture. They need someone to leave the light on. Remember the old Motel 6 thing? "Leave the light on for ya." They just need someone to leave the light on. Someone who says, "Hey, I've been there," or, "You're not alone" or, you know, "Keep going." That's influence. Not changing the world all at once. Changing one person's world today. You know, it's been so awesome getting the feedback. Some people are saying, "You know what? Every time that you've talked that it's resonated with what's going on in my life," or, "I just feel how God's impacting this, this message that you are giving each and every episode." And those things are so awesome because I want this to impact your life. I want this to change maybe a trajectory, or I want this to challenge you. I want this to grow you. I want this to be something that, that really provides fuel for you. And you know, as I was thinking about that, one day I started realizing something as we have been talking about this. Maybe the goal of Pilot Light was never to really build an audience. Maybe it was to build a movement. You know, I talked about some of those things in the first part of this episode of, of really the darkness there, but I was thinking about that. What if we created a movement, not a movement of famous people, a movement of ordinary people who refuse to let the light stop with them? People who understand that encouragement multiplies, hope spreads, kindness echoes, faith grows, courage is is contagious. And suddenly I realize that this isn't my podcast anymore. It's ours. So here's the big idea. Here's what I've learned. One healthy life has the power to influence hundreds of others, not because of popularity, but because influence multiplies. I want you to think about your own life. Someone who believed in you, someone who encouraged you, someone who forgave you, someone who gave you a chance, someone who prayed for you, someone who invested in you. You're the product of people who pass the flame. And guess what? Now it's your turn. So here's my first point today Light spreads naturally. You know, if you think about this, one candle doesn't lose anything by lighting another candle. I hope you hold onto that because that's a powerful point. One candle doesn't lose anything by lighting another candle. We always think that, "Oh man, if I give to that person or, or I, I'm sharing my light with them," that it costs me something, but it really doesn't. It doesn't become weaker. That candle does not become weaker. It doesn't burn less brightly. Light multiplies by being shared. Hope works the same way, so does encouragement, so does generosity, so does faith. The world tells us resources become smaller when we give them away, but encouragement actually seems to get larger. The more we give it, the more there is. So here's my second point today Honestly, small acts create big ripple effects. Most people overestimate what they can accomplish in a day, and they underestimate what one faithful act can accomplish over a lifetime. One conversation, one invitation, one apology, one act of forgiveness, one phone call, one encouraging text, one coffee. Hey, that's an awesome thing, right? You may never know what that moment means to someone else. Somebody's life may turn because you chose to notice them. Don't underestimate ordinary faithfulness. God rarely does. So here's my third point, and this is my faith point for you today. Jesus never asked us to change the whole world. Okay? And that might be news to you. You might think it's your j- job and your duty. I'm going to change the world by one post at a time on the internet, because I have something important to say. Oh, please don't do that, okay? But Jesus never asked us to change the whole world. I want you to think about Jesus' ministry. He did change the world. He changed the world, right? But he started with 12 people, one conversation at a time, one meal at a time, one healing, one lesson, one life. Sometimes I wonder if we've become overwhelmed because we're trying to do globally what God asked us to do personally. Yeah, I'm thinking of a story right now. You know, when I was a pastor many, many, many years ago, it was interesting because I walked through the death of someone, uh, with the family as, as they lost a loved one, and I was at the hospital with them. And at that moment, I didn't understand the gravity of, of what I was walking through. I was young. I was a young pastor at the time, and really had no clue what I was doing. But I did walk through them with that moment, and I don't remember saying anything profound. There was nothing in that moment that was jaw-dropping and like I had this special, you know, d-- uh, amount of knowledge that came directly from heaven in that moment. I think I just sat there with him. And years later, I'll never forget, because they came and talked to me and told me how much and, and how important that moment was, and I was blown away because I had honestly forgot. I'd forgot about that moment. But in their face and, and their communication to me, they communicated that that was a huge thing, and all I did was honestly just sit with them. And that's kind of the challenge in this. This is, this is what I want you to understand, that sometimes it's the small moments. And, uh, even though we're trying... and we're getting overwhelmed and try and do things globally, God's really asking us those personal moments. Love the person in front of you. Encourage the person in front of you. Serve the person in front of you. Influence begins where you are Not where you wish you were. Man, so many times we miss the boat on that because we're always trying to plan out to this other place, or if I get to this, or if I learn this, or if- if- if maybe this situation dictates this, then I will do that. But influence begins right now where you're at in your home with your kids, with your family, with your neighbors, with the people around you. Maybe it's just sitting... You know what? I just got done with a sports season with my kids over this last year as they're graduating. Maybe it's just the ne- person that's sitting next to you at the sporting event, wherever it may be. Influence begins where you are, not where you wish you were. You know, Jesus said, "You are the light of the world." We talked about that last season. Notice he didn't say someday you'll become the light. He said you are. Light does not announce itself. It simply shines. And maybe that's our calling too, not to make ourselves famous. I know there's a whole culture behind that, that we think once we get to here, then people will listen. But it's not about making yourselves famous, not s- not to win every argument, not to prove that we are actually right. Actually, never mind that. Not to prove we were right. Simply to shine and trust God with how far then the light travels. So can I ask you something? Who needs your light this week? Not next month, this week. Who needs encouragement? Who needs forgiveness? Who needs someone to believe in them? Who needs a phone call? Who needs to hear, "You know what? I've been thinking about you"? Don't overcomplicate it. God usually doesn't. You know, I think been thinking about this because as a, as a former pastor, I walked through a lot of different times, and I mentioned this earlier on in this podcast about walking through some of those moments where people have passed away, their family members have passed away. And I did, uh, I did a, a funeral or a celebration of life not that long ago, and it always gets my mind thinking about these things. And one of the sad things is I, I have a friend that I grew up with, one of my best buddies growing up with. He, he lived across the street from my grandma, and we used to play army guys all the time. And it was such a fun moment of life because I used to be able to call him up, he would come across the street, and we would have just the best adventures together. And as we got older and I went to a different school and, and we kinda lost touch in different things and, and, uh, we, we had, you know, made different moments where we were able to kind of see each other. But in his early 20s, he committed suicide. And I think about that a lot because here's a friend of mine that I loved to hang out with. And in that moment, I hope he understood how much I loved hanging out with him But as he got older, there was some moment in his life where he lost hope. And I think about him, I think about Aaron, and whatever was going on in his head at that time that he didn't think he was valuable enough. And I think about, man, if I could've had one conversation with him just to remember Just to have him remember how fun it was when we were kids, and being able to go to my grandma's house and have competitions about who could eat the most hot sauce or the most pancakes. But those moments I think we, we neglect the importance of the interactions that we have with people because sometimes they just need to hear "Hey, I've been thinking about you." So don't overcomplicate it 'cause like I said God usually doesn't. Man I didn't plan on getting emotional in season two here but here I am all right let me suck it up here cause my eyes are gettin', uh there must be dust in the room. Anyway this season here's the thing; I want to invite you into something I'm calling The Flame Challenge every week Every week I want you to encourage one person intentionally not randomly i want you to pray about it then I want you to act i want you to send the text i want you to make the call i want you to buy the coffee i want you to write the note speak the encouragement then okay if you're comfortable I want you to tell me about it Because I think something beautiful happens when ordinary people start intentionally passing the flame Hey Let's see what god does in this can you imagine if we start telling stories about how we encouraged others? I'm sorry but the news and everything out there And social media tells all the garbage and everything else All the time and It's all the clickbait and Everything that's out there That's horrible You know its a whole idea If it bleeds it leads Right How About We Start Something Where There's Encouragement That Happens When We Start Hearing Stories About How Someone Maybe Said An encouraging word To someone And It Was The Most Important Thing In That Very Moment What If That Happened What If That Filled Social Media What If That Filled The News Cause Im Tired Of Seeing All The Garbage Out There I Wanna See A Light Being Put Out There In The World Im Tired Of Complaining About The Darkness Like I Talked About In The First Part Of This How Bout We Start Encouraging The Light How Bout We Start Uh Making Sure That People Understand That They Are Heard Making Sure That They Are Loved And making sure that we Can Share The light Of Jesus To Each One Of Them Thats The Stuff That Can Happen so maybe changing the world isn't nearly as complicated as we've made it maybe it begins with Changing One Person's Day You See It All The Time There Might Be Person That You're Walking Next To You Even Can Tell Its On Their Face Or Maybe Its A Coworker Who's Going Through Somethin Really Serious Right Now And You Don't Have To Say Anything Profound going back to the story where I walked with the family As They Went Through The Loss Of Their Level One That Night I Just Sat With Him Sometimes thats all you need to do is sit with somebody Just Know That Your There For them yknow maybe it Begins With seeing someone who feels invisible Maybe it begins with choosing hope Instead of criticism maybe it begins with Becoming The Person Who Leaves The Light On for Somebody Else If ordinary people decide to do that, I honestly think communities change. You know, I just saw a post. A friend of mine on Facebook asked that question: What are the systems that we can put in place in our communities? You know what? I think th- that's a great question and it's something that we need to do, but I think the question's bigger than that because we've done systems. We've done all these amazing things and, and given and, and all that kind of stuff. We've created systems to try to help people, but we forgot about the human element in that. Maybe it begins with becoming the person who leaves a light on for someone else If enough ordinary people decide to do that, I honestly think communities change. Families change. Churches change. Workplaces change. Generations change. Not because one person becomes famous but because thousands of ordinary people decided to keep passing the flame. So here's my legacy minute. Imagine this, okay? Years from now someone tells a story about why they didn't quit, why they stayed in their marriage, why they came back to church, why they started believing again, why they found hope and somewhere in that story guess what? Your name appears not because you did something spectacular but because you noticed, you cared, you encouraged, you left the light on. That's legacy. That's influence. That's passing the flame Oh man, it's good stuff. You know, I- I... Th- it's This is the heartbeat of Pilot Light, and I hope you're starting to grasp this. It's one, we've gotta understand how we have to come back to life, but as we come back to life, then it's, that's changing the world around us by passing the flame. Hey, I wanna thank you for spending a few minutes with me today, and welcome to season two. I am I, I'm kind of blown away. I didn't know how many episodes were going, but this thing's planned out and, and, uh, I've got a whole lot more coming. But welcome to season two. And if you're willing to accept this week's Flame Challenge, I would love to hear your story because every story reminds someone else that hope is still alive. So this week pass the flame and remember, see farther, live deeper, become who you were created to be. You were created to be a fire not just a flicker so keep the light on and I will see you next time. You know before w-... you go though I wa- I want to hear from you. One of the things I want to do differently this season is to make Pilot Light less of a one way conversation. Okay? So tell me your story. Tell me who lit your pilot light. Tell me about a time somebody believed in you or encouraged you or showed up when you needed it the most. Or tell me how you're passing the flame to somebody else. You don't have to write anything profound, just tell me what happened. Because throughout this season I wanna share some of your stories right here on the podcast. You can send yours to me through the fan mail link in the episode description. And while you're there if Pilot Light has meant something to you, would you do two more things for me? First of all share this episode with one person who might need it and then take a minute to rate the show on the podcast app that you are currently listening on. You know those small things make a bigger difference than you realize and they help more people discover these conversations and then they could become part of what we're building here. But most importantly ,I want to hear from you because this season isn't just about my stories .It's about ours. So tell me yours and let's keep passing the flame