Time with Sharon: Traveling in the Darkness

Time with Sharon: Traveling in the Darkness

October 2009-


Today, I spent two hours getting my headlights replaced on my car. They couldn’t find anything wrong with them, but they had completely shorted out twice this week while I was driving home from church after dark. This was worse than if, when I first started the car, they had simply just not come on at all. I would have called my trusty friends at AAA , and we would have dealt with the issue before I found myself hurtling down the highway in total darkness at (or near) the speed limit.


After some time of checking, and making phone calls, the dealer agreed to replace the headlights. Their machines couldn’t find a problem, but they concluded that the risk of leaving them in place was too high. I agreed.

It’s a good thing when your lights turn on when you need them...but it’s a better thing that they stay on when you are trusting in them.


So it is with our faith, our relationship with God through Jesus Christ. How often have we taken it for granted, expecting that, because we have once had a transformative experience in our life, our faith, will just be there for us and we’ll know how to access it when we need it? That transformative experience was catalytic, for certain, and probably propelled us into a deeper relationship with God. But if we don’t attend to our faith through connecting with others in prayer, Bible study, Christian conversations and fellowship, and reaching out to others, then we may have difficulty connecting with God just when we need it most critically. In other words, our faith might short out, just when we find ourselves hurtling at high speed in darkness.


A few weeks ago, that’s what happened to me. I was in route to see my critically ill brother, who had been hospitalized with a high fever and a mysterious and aggressive infection. It didn’t look good at all….in fact it looked really bad. I was driving numbed, filled with dread. I couldn’t even form the words of a prayer. But I had made a few phone calls before leaving, asking others to pray. And pray they did. The church prayer chain kicked in, and prayers started flying heavenward. A friend called and prayed over the phone for and with me for miles as I drove on. I was covered, drenched, saturated in prayers, as were my brother and his family. I felt the love, the assurance, the peace that surpasses all understanding.


My faith held me up through a connection with God via my church family. My headlights blazed on in the darkness, because of people of faith that surrounded me in prayer. I never felt alone.

Coming to worship is very good. But I encourage you, my friends, to stay after, talking and sharing. Come back in the middle of the week for bible study and prayer. Join others on a Saturday in risk taking a mission and service. Attend to your faith through the energy you pour into engaging with your faith family.


It will serve you well. For these people will remind you that God is right there; embracing you, loving you all the way. And you will never be alone in the dark.


Peace,

Pastor Sharon