Trust the Engineer

Read: Proverbs 3:1-12

Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.                                

                                                                                                                    Proverbs 3:5-6 

     “When a train goes through a tunnel and it gets dark, you don’t throw away the ticket and jump off; you sit still and trust the engineer.” Corrie ten Boom, the author of the previous statement, suffered terribly in a concentration camp when it was discovered that she and her family were helping Jews escape the Nazi Holocaust. In addition to her own physical suffering, she had to endure the death of several family members, including her father and sister, as the result of Nazi guard brutality. Her story is chronicled in the book The Hiding Place  (so named not only because they helped hide the Jews, but also because that is how she looked upon her God throughout all the difficulties she faced). Corrie learned to trust God’s timing even though she couldn’t see how His plan was working. Through a clerical error, she was released from prison, after which she spent many years writing and speaking all over the world of God’s goodness and forgiveness.

     Like her, there will be many times in your life when things get dark. In fact, you may be going through one of those times now. You are trying to trust God to show you His will in where you should attend college, whom you should marry, or what God wants you to do with your life; but it just doesn’t seem like there is any light. It just seems as if God is not there. That doesn’t mean you should abandon God – He certainly has not abandoned you. God doesn’t always show you every step of the way all at once. Things may seem dark because you are looking way down the path. God doesn’t always shine the light that far (In fact, He rarely does). If you would look one step in front of you, you would see the light that God is shining on the next step. Then you will see the next step, and the next, and so on until you are all the way down the path you were unsuccessfully looking down before.

     It may get frustrating at times. To use the analogy that Corrie ten Boom used, you may feel like jumping off the train. But, you can be sure that God is completely in control and fully capable of carrying you to your destination. Though things look dark now, you will eventually break into the light when you exit the tunnel. Sit still and trust the Engineer.

Quote of the day: “Do not spoil what you have by desiring what you have not; but remember that what you now have was once among the things you only hoped for.”