"And Thus the Lord Caused Stones to Shine..."

This evening, in Family Scripture study, I came across a scripture that I'm sure I've read and overlooked dozens of times, but that struck me with a particularly deep and important meaning tonight.

Ether 6:3 And thus the Lord caused stones to shine in darkness, to give light unto men, women, and children, that they might not cross the great waters in darkness.

There's a lot of symbolism about light and darkness. Mostly, it's the light of the gospel that gives us guidance through this dark and troubling world. But as I read this scripture, what struck me most was where this light was coming from.

Stones.

Sixteen stones; clear and white, transparent as glass and molten out of a rock by a prophet (Ether 3:1), but otherwise ordinary stones. And I thought that if God can make stones shine in darkness, He could probably do the same with us.

I don't consider myself an extraordinary person. I'm certainly not a spiritual giant, like you'd expect a person who (barely) maintains a (semi-)spiritual blog to be. In terms of my level of spirituality, I consider myself to be at about the same level as everyone else. As Christians go, I'm about as common and as ordinary as a stone.

Yet, God can do great and miraculous things with stones. He caused a stone to yield water for the Israelites. He used a single, slung stone to drive back an entire army. He can even make stones give off light. And if God can make heatless, flameless torches out of a handful of rocks, He can probably make some use out of me.

None of us are worthless, no matter how common or ordinary we feel. God has infinite power and He sees infinite potential in us. With His power, and our consent, He can turn us into miraculous instruments for good. We can even be like the stones that shine in darkness, giving light to others who are also crossing the great waters of life.

I don't consider myself a bright person, or a great source of spiritual light, but I know that no matter how dull I am, if I let Him, God can shine His holy light through me. I may be just like any other rock, but if I let Christ's spirit touch my soul, I can be a stone that shares His light.