Monday, June 11, 2012

Seek The Light

The light shines through the darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it. -- John 1:5

God protects fools. That’s all I can say. My friend and I headed out toward Pensacola. We knew it was raining. So what? It was raining at home but just a steady sprinkle. Well, in Pensacola it was flooding. Really.

Torrential downpours hit us about an hour into the trip. We had two hours to go. We had moments of better. We had hope of better. Until my friend got a phone call telling us that Pensacola had already had 12 inches of rain. By that time we were too far gone to turn back.

We prayed a lot on that trip. At least I did. My friend worried. And saw the worst. But when the rain would ease up a little, I’d focus on the lighter sky ahead.

“Look toward the light,” I told him. “God promises that light will always follow the darkness.” I knew we’d be okay. God was with us.

Of course, I didn’t take it for granted. I prayed the entire way there and back. Not only for myself, but for those around me. Because there were a lot of us fools on the road that day.

I realize that John was talking about Jesus in this passage of Scripture and not about torrential rains and thunderstorms. But storms are all around us. Darkness comes to everyone sooner or later. And the light of Jesus will see us through.

We forget that sometimes, when the darkness threatens to consume us and we don’t know how we’ll ever manage to live through another day. All we have to do is focus on the light and take one step at a time. Trusting that Jesus will light the way. Then one day we’ll be out of the rain and back in the light again.

It doesn’t always feel that way. We want to see it. We want to know the plan. We want some kind of written guarantee. And we have it. It’s called the Bible. God promises that He will never let one of His be snatched away by the darkness. We can trust in that. We can trust in Him. The darkness can never extinguish the light, that flicker of flame, that lives within us.

So when the darkness seems too much and the demands of the world overwhelm you, look to the light for strength and guidance. God’s got a firm hold on those who have accepted His gift of salvation. Hang on to that and look toward the light.