It’s Just Another Train

Have you ever driven through, or walked through a dark tunnel?  It’s really not bad, as long as you can see either a light behind you, or a light ahead of you.  However, in a long tunnel, when you lose sight of all light, it can be quite frightening.  The middle of the tunnel is the most difficult, when you lose all light, and lose all sense of time and distance.

WARNING:  Extended waiting may produce unusual behavior!

When life throws you a curve, it may lead to what feels like a long, dark tunnel.  You pray and you hope.  You hope and you pray.  You try to use positive affirmations and maintain a positive attitude to pull yourself through, and the cycle continues for days, weeks, maybe months, but nothing seems to change.

Finally, something happens.  You see a small, glimmer of light.  Maybe, just maybe, this person, or that connection will be your answer, and your hope is renewed, only to find that the light was not the end of your tunnel, but rather just another train that you had to deal with.

How do you keep going when nothing seems to change?  How can you maintain hope when hope continually produces disappointment?

I cannot tell you how many times over the past few months that I have seen a glimmer of light and thought, surely this has to be the light at the end of this tunnel.  Unfortunately, all too often, it was just another train.

Hope deferred makes the heart sick. Proverbs 13:12

What do you do when your heart is sick and hope can’t be found?  What do you do when you’ve tried all you know to try?  What do you do when every time you get your hopes up, they’re dashed again, and the ray of light turns out to be just another train?

Let me share a couple of “Lessons From The Tunnel.”

Trust God in the process.
Trust God in the pain.
Trust God in the placement.

First of all, trust God in the process.  We, as humans, tend to be more concerned with the outcome, or the destination, while God is more concerned with the journey, or the process.  It has been said that we are a “microwave people” trying to serve a “marinating God.”  If you’re in a struggle and it’s taking longer than you would like, trust God in the process.

Secondly, trust God in the pain.  No one enjoys pain.  C. S. Lewis said, “God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our consciences, but shouts in our pains.  It is often in our pain that we uncover hidden potential, and a different perspective.  The pain is often for our gain.  Trust God in the pain.

And finally, trust God in the placement.  God has not forgotten you.  You may be in the longest, darkest tunnel you’ve ever walked through, but God has not forsaken you.  He has not forgotten you, and He has not forsaken you.  And He never will.  God is with you and He is constantly aware of where you are and what is happening in your life.  He knows where you’ve been placed, and regardless of how dark, or how long it has been, trust God in the placement.

Perhaps you’re in the middle of a tunnel.  You’ve asked God, “How long?”  You’ve seen a glimmer of light and gotten your hopes up so many times, that you’re hesitant to hope again when you see a light, for fear that it’s just another train.

Trust God in the process, in the pain, and in the placement.  You’ve come too far to quit.  The next light you see may not be a train, it may be the end of your tunnel, and a new day.

Still Believing!