Lights In The Darkness

Driving past the airport in the 4 am darkness, looking out the window, I saw acres of blue lights shining like glowing forget-me-nots on a black velvet carpet. From my ground level view, they looked totally random and downright messy.

But from above, these blue dots guide pilots to the correct destination avoiding total disaster. Each light is part of a complex pattern directing the plane to the proper runway to safely land from the sky, and then leading the pilot to the exact gate.

As the plane readied to take off, I noticed the control tower. In the midst of all the chaos, traffic controllers provided needed guidance and instruction. And when I landed, the ground crew further directed the pilot.

Just the perspective I needed that morning as I reflected on the random messes in my life. To me, these events and relationships are confusing and sometimes distressing. But to God, they’re part of an intricate pattern He designed to bring me to the destination He has in mind.

Both by His Spirit and through people on the ground, God provides the guidance and encouragement I need to continue on the journey He has set before me.

We often want our circumstances and our future to be clearly laid out before us. On this journey we’re traveling, God’s Word is a “lamp to our feet and a light to our paths.” (Ps. 139:105) It is not like a stadium floodlight that makes the night as bright as day. It’s more like a flashlight in the dark allowing us to see one step at a time. Perhaps if we could see more, we’d run the other way. But God leads us providing the peace and the strength to continue forward with trust that someday we will know. “Now we see things imperfectly, like puzzling reflections in a mirror, but then we will see everything with perfect clarity. All that I know now is partial and incomplete, but then I will know everything completely, just as God now knows me completely” 1 Cor. 13:12

God is faithful. He will lead, and guide, and prompt us to follow. He wants us to do His will even more than we do. Too often, we seek a sign before we move. What He desires is for us to seek His way, to seek to be taught, to be sensitive to His leading and obedient to His call.

There are things that are crystal clear – activities and attitudes to avoid, and those to pursue. That’s where our focus should be. For what is not clear, we walk by faith, not by sight (2 Cor. 5:7). We walk according to what is clear and trust Him to reveal the rest in His timing.

How to make it through the journey? Follow the directions for what you can see, and trust God for what you can’t see!

The fundamental fact of existence is that this trust in God, this faith, is the firm foundation under everything that makes life worth living. It’s our handle on what we can’t see. Heb. 11:1 (The Message)