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.