LIGHT AT THE END OF THE TUNNEL

devotional for Sunday, 6/24/12

I'm sure we've all experienced good and bad times.  As we are coming out of the bad times, sometimes we say we can see the light at the end of the tunnel.  By that, we generally mean we are moving toward something more promising, that better times are ahead.  We sometimes jokingly add to the tunnel metaphor, "and it isn't the headlight of an oncoming train!"  

Trains are very powerful, heavy machinery.  I don't think any of us believe that we could stop an oncoming train from running us over by standing on the tracks and putting our hands on the front of the engine and holding it back, even if we push with all our might.  Even if the train were to hit a car that had stopped across the tracks, that would not stop the monstrous string of huge cars from moving forward.  But in spite of all it's might, there is a very simple way we can stop the train from running us over - it's something we can do that the train cannot - we can step off the tracks.  Not even the mightiest of engines can step off the tracks to run us over.

Sometimes when we are suddenly confronted with a difficult situation or a triggering event, we are like the person standing on the tracks.  We freeze where we are, or even try to stop the situation or event from continuing, when the simpler solution might be to just "step out of the way!"  We cannot control what other people think, say or do, but we can control how we act, react, or feel about it by changing our thought patterns about the issue.  One action we always can take is to pray to God for help, understanding and power to do the next right thing, even if that is to just "step out of the way."

God can show us the "light at the end of the tunnel" if we ask him to do that.  Sometimes it might require us to turn around if we aren't facing the right direction to see that light.  Or maybe it will require that we move things out of the way that are blocking our vision.  Sometimes we just have to turn the next corner.  Other times it might just be a matter of opening our eyes!  Kinda hard to see the light with our eyes closed.  And when we feel so weak that we don't even feel we can open our eyes, God will give us the power to do that or whatever needs to be done.  Just ask him!

I will lead the blind by ways they have not known, along unfamiliar paths I will guide them; I will turn the darkness into light before them and make the rough places smooth.  These are the things I will do; I will not forsake them.  Isaiah 42:16 NIV

written by Jan Andersen