"Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my
path." Psalm 119:105
Blackness! Darkness! Complete nothingness!! I have been out
in the wild, in total darkness...moonless nights, but nothing...NOTHING
compared to this. I held my hand right at my nose, waved it.... NOTHING. I knew
for the first time what it must be like for a person without sight. Living in
blackness!
A few years back, I went to the Natural Bridge Caverns, near San Antonio, TX.
I took the lantern tour, which means the only source of light came from the
small lanterns each of us carried, 180 ft. down into the earth. Just a small
group, consisting of a young early-20's couple, the two guides, and myself.
Once we reached the deepest point, while listening to an audio recording we
switched off the lamps. SWEET MOTHER OF PEARLS!!!! TOTAL BLACKNESS, in a 99%
humid cave with NO source of light! WOW!
I could feel the very darkness cling to me like being covered in damp burlap! It was an amazing experience, which for
someone who is claustrophobic, NOT a good idea. As for me? Good thing it was
totally dark, the others couldn't see me looking like a dork while I was
looking all around me, as if I could see the stone walls. Hey, I just said I'm a dork, don't judge me! 😊
After momentarily switching the lamps back on, one of the
guides lit and old miner's lamp, very similar to my grandpa's, and switched off
our lanterns again. Frankly, it wasn't much better than the darkness. Holding
the lamp at less than two feet from a wall, BARELY gave off the faintest glow!
This is what those men of old had to work with.... W O W!!!
The lesson here is we keep wanting God to show us the way
and we tend to get a little cranky when He doesn't show the whole path. Then,
we make the mistake of trying to look beyond the light's reach. That's when
trouble happens. Like these miner's, we need to move slowly and carefully in
our lives, keeping in mind that we are still moving forward, but with patience
to allow the Father to show you as much (or little) at a time as He chooses. We
need to understand that God has a reason for this. We need to trust this and
not question it! A little light is better than nothing at all.
"It is better to light one small candle, than to curse
the darkness" - Chinese proverb
No comments:
Post a Comment