The Lord has hidden Himself...but I trust Him -David (Psalms 8:17)


Trust is hard.

I remember as a kid going spelunking a lot in central Oregon with my family and friends. One of our favorite caves was one called Lava River Cave. It was massive underground cave that ran over a mile under the earth.
It was scary and exciting all at the same time to descend into the depths of the dark with only a small flashlight.

It was amazing how ink black it was and how pitifully weak our little lights would seem to be.
You really couldn't see much with them because soon as you tried to look around at the cave with your flashlight, you would stumble on some rock. You had to walk carefully and attentively with the light right on your path, so you wouldn't fall down some subterranean ravine or smash into a sharp rock.

I remember the claustrophobic feeling of being at the very end of that cave, having walked for it seemed hours, deep into the recesses of that black hole. I can still feel the suffocating fear of being so far in the earth with such a small light and thinking "what would happen if this little light went out?"
YIKES!!!!! It was worse than any horror movie goose pimples.
It would cause your heart to race and sweat to start to bead up on your paranoid face.

All of a sudden that little amount of light was extremely important!

To me living in this world seems to make trusting hard.
There is a lot of darkness here.
It is easy to look at all the pain and suffering, all the horrors of war, the greed, the disintegration of familles and morality and feel overwhelmed by the darkness.

Even though the Bible clearly says:
"The light shines through the darkness and the darkness can never extinguish it." (John 1:5.)
It is often a tremendous struggle to believe in the power of light over darkness, not only in the world but within our very souls. The struggle, the battle, the war is never ending. It is a wrestling match to the end.
Darkness is always present.
God didn't remove it, hasn't extinguish it yet.

Can I trust in the face of things I don't understand?
Will I hold on when I don't feel anything?
Will despair and hopelessness rule when I can't seem to see the promises of God come to pass?
Can I trust in the dark?
Can I relay on this simple little book to get me through?
Is His word enough?
What happens if my feelings start to dim?

One of the main things that always got me through the moments of personal terror in those spooky caves was the fact that I wasn't alone. I often relied on other people's light to help me find my way. Their voices definitely were a source of encouragement and helped scatter away the boogie men that I was sure were following me down there. I was never the last in the line for sure! :)

The fact that the Lord has promised that He will NEVER leave us or forsake us, is one of the most awesome scriptures to me. No matter how dark it gets, I will never be left down in that deep, dark cave, all alone...the light, as little as it may be, won't go out.

That's something we can all trust.