Tunnels

Have you ever been on a train before, either for fun or a trip to some place?  If you have then you know how much faith you must put in the engineer to get you from point A to point B safely on this massive metal beast.  But what happens when the train enters a tunnel and everything gets dark and you can no longer see? Do you start screaming for help? Screaming that you’ll never see light again? Throw away your ticket and jump out of the train? Or even turn to the person next to you and ask them to save you? No, you sit still and trust that the engineer will get you from point A to point B because you believe that he knows what he’s doing through the tunnel that you cannot see anything in, and your safety is his number one concern, darkness is just part of the trip.

So what about when we find ourselves in dark places in life, when we can’t see where we are, where we’re going and there’s no glimpse of light to be found?  We are so quick to lean on our own understanding in those moments and go into panic mode trying to see, and be in control. It would be insane for the passenger of the train to go tell the engineer something along the lines of, “Hey you need to let me take control of this train so I can get back into the light and see where I’m at.” The engineer would probably reply, “I understand your concern, but I need you to trust me that I know what I’m doing, and that I will get you through this tunnel, you’re not the qualified one to run this train, I am.”

Like the engineer of the train, God responds to us in that way in Proverbs 3:5-6, “Trust in the LORD with all of your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.” God’s saying, Trust me completely that I know where we are, and where we’re going. Don’t look at the dark and think that we’re lost.  I know how to run this train perfectly and if in order to get if from point A to point B I have to take this train through some dark tunnels, then I will. And through many tunnels you will learn to trust that it is I, the controller of this train, who get it safely through the dark tunnels, not you, the panicked passenger.

Whether you’re in a dark tunnel right now or not, when one comes and you cannot see the other side of it, sit back and trust in that your engineer, God, is growing your faith in his perfect ability to protect you, and to do you good. James 1:2-4 “Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.” 

"God will take you where you haven't chosen to go in order to produce in you what you could not achieve on your own."

-Paul Tripp

Cameron Roy

March 9^th, 2014