My Light and My Salvation

'Give ear, O Lord, to my prayer;
listen to my plea for grace.
In the day of my trouble I call upon you,
for you answer me...

Teach me your way, O Lord,
that I amy walk in your truth;
unite my heart to fear your name...

For great is your steadfast love toward me;
you have delivered my soul
from the depths of Sheol...


But you, O Lord, are a God merciful and gracious,
slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness.'
Psalm 86 (portions of)ESV

Sometimes life can seem like walking through a cave. The cave entrance bears a sign saying, "Welcome! Enjoy the journey!" and then, in minuscule lettering near the bottom letters form to say, "whatever you do; keep walking forward."

At the start there is light illuminating the way and we can walk in confidence. But as we continue deeper into the cavern, light is few and far between. Darkness begins to engulf you and the light that had comforted your journey at the beginning is far out of reach. This is about the time when your steps are few and far between.

It becomes increasingly difficult to put your foot forward when you don't know where it will land. You stop moving altogether and stand there; in darkness. 'Do I dare move forward when I don't know where I am going?' Temptations come to do one of two things (usually)-
1. sit down and cry out for help from something, someone, anything to come help you;
2. begin shuffling back toward the known light where you had entered in at.
There is a third option, one which you shutter to consider:
3. step forward and continue to walk.
This was the charge to you in the beginning; a silent voice saying, 'whatever you do, keep walking forward.'

Your mind is reeling, "How in the world can I continue stepping forward?! I can't see a thing!" Panic and anxiety rise as your heart beats faster and you weigh out your options. Would it really be so bad if you just went back to where you started? It was much more comfortable and you knew where you were at all times. Or what would happen if I just tested out my lung strength and cried out until someone reached me?

A silent whisper says, 'no. trust me. walk forward.'

And so... you do. From every corner of your being you are frightened and it seems as though someone has grabbed your heart and is squeezing all the blood out of it.

You don't fall, and ground is still beneath you. It's a long, and slow journey at times as you wander through the darkness, but you begin to see a glimpse again....of light. At first you wonder if it is an illusion, and then your eyes fix on it. Your steps quicken and you begin to travel quicker to get closer to the light. The light does not disappoint you as you gain ground. Nothing has felt so reassuring as the light that is now before you.

No longer engulfed in darkness, you are surrounded by a warming and comforting light. Your heart is full of rest You relish every moment of the sun beaming on your face.

There are times in our lives when we embark on a new journey. The start is usually filled with a lot of anticipation and excitement for the future. So many goals and aspirations lay before us and you know it will take time, but you are confident; for the time being. But as you begin to embark on the journey, it takes you on dips and turns that you weren't expecting. It's not as easy as you anticipated and the goals that you had made seem virtually unreachable. You may have fallen on the way, and you don't even look like the same person who had started the journey... This is about the time where most of us begin to cry out for help. We are looking for a way to get out of the situation that we find ourselves in and our prayer life has never looked so good. Our lungs explode with the air we begin to cry out with...but it begins to dawn on us that at the beginning of the journey we were told one thing, 'keep walking forward.' We are tempted to start back at the beginning, but it seems redundant as we have already begun to feed on something stronger and deeper than before and if we go back to where we were, we are always going to feel that longing for something more.

So we begin to walk. The only thing we hang on to is that faith and trust in the sign at the beginning. It takes time, but there is hope. Over time and with perseverance God rewards our obedience and we experience more than what we could hope or imagine for. The fullness of this reward may not be felt until the end of our lives, but God is faithful in providing even the smallest encouragements along the way.

So continue to walk. Our God is merciful. His love is steadfast. It is loyal.

"For you, O Lord, are good and forgiving, abounding in steadfast love to all who call upon you." Psalm 86:5