The Light At the End of the Tunnel

"Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying,
'I am the light of the world. He who follows Me
shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.'"
-- John 8:12

How many of us have uttered the words: "I finally saw the light at the end of the tunnel, but it turned out to be an oncoming train."? I know I have, and more than just once or twice. There have been times when I have plodded and trudged in darkness, thinking I was nearing the end of the tunnel, just to turn a corner and see no break in the endless night ahead. And I am not only speaking of seemingly interminable projects, but also those experiences with inner endless nights, emotional darkness stretching on and on. I have known of many who suffered the ordeal of long term sickness or terminal illness, or those who could never seem to catch a breath in a torrent of bad breaks befalling them, who must surely have felt themselves trapped in a tunnel stretching further behind into the past and further ahead into the future than they could see. How sweet, how relieving to finally see the long-sought light before them.

But what if your tunnel appears unending? What do you do when there seems no relief in sight, when darkness threatens to overwhelm you, to engulf you body, spirit, and soul?

There are but two choices we can make when we find ourselves in this kind of situation. We can continue to grope around in the dark, plodding on endlessly, lost for eternity. Or we can choose to follow the One who brings light to the world, who shows us the correct path to take so we will never be lost again. The second option does require a great amount of effort on our part. We must first admit we are lost, walking the wrong path, and only He can lead us. We must study and pray and ask forgiveness. And most importantly, we must willingly accept that which is so lovingly and freely given, eternal salvation through God's grace.

When we feel like we're hopelessly lost, don't we hope for someone or something to guide us? Don't we really just want to know, need to know, that the light at the end of our tunnel will actually appear?

Our final destination is our Father's house where we will reside forever. In the Bible, John assures us that: "In Him was life, and the life was the light of men." (John 1:4) Jesus promised us we would not walk in darkness if we would follow Him while we dwell on earth. As difficult as it may be to believe at times, if we make the choice to take God's hand, His compassionate love will light our way until we reach that long sought goal.

Walk into the light.

An Introduction to...

The Power of His Word

The Christian Bible is often described as the inspired word of God, that while it was indeed penned by mortal men, they labored under divine guidance and influence. The text of the Bible also provides a good history of the region it covers, much of which has been borne out by artifacts and other discoveries throughout the Middle Eastern lands during modern times. In this blog we will examine both, using the history of the region to make the text relevant to today, and drawing inspiration from His word.

I am merely a layman, a sojourner through this earthly life. My analyses of scripture should be considered as merely my opinion. I offer it here, not so much in attempts to sway or inspire others, and certainly not to cause anger or grief to anyone. No, my intent is simpler... My hope and prayer is that this exercise will allow me to study more closely the words my Father and my Teacher spoke so many centuries ago, to help me walk truer to the path my Savior laid out for me. If anyone else joins me along this lane and gains insight from my discussions, then I will be humbled and will feel blessed indeed.

"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God,
and the Word was God."

-- John 1:1

Before anything we can comprehend, there stood God, Who always was and always will be. There is no greater power than His words, by which all existence began with the simple phrase: "Let there be light." (Genesis 1:3). John goes on to say:

"He was in the beginning with God. All things were made
through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. In Him was life,
and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the
darkness did not overcome it."

-- John 1:2-5

From this passage we can see that the Word of God is also the Son of God, Jesus, our Savior. With this simple phrase, these few sentences, John tells us that Jesus has been with God since before time, and indeed is God. We learn that through Him all things are made, and that not even the darkness can overcome His light. And what greater darkness is there than the ultimate evil manifest in Lucifer? So John assures us that Jesus will overcome the Dark One.

There is great power in the Word of God; to create, to heal, to inspire, to console. This will be our journey, one verse at a time, toward a destination far more wonderful than any may imagine. Join us in this exploration of the Power of His Word.