Luke 1:79 – To give light to those who sit in
darkness and the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.
(NKJV)
I started to read the New Testament while walking on
my treadmill five days each week. Some passages about Jesus being the light of
hope in a dark world caught my eye and made me think of an event which happened
a few years ago.
One of my cousins was diagnosed with a fatal illness.
He was elderly and had been doing really well, but suddenly, he started to feel
worse. At first, it was thought that he had the flu, and then later, it was
confirmed that he had only a few weeks to live. He was a very faithful,
believing Christian. In his younger years, he had been a youth leader, and he
had been an elder in his church for many years. At one time, he even
contemplated going into the ministry, but for various reasons, he was not able
to pursue this ambition. He was married and raised a Christian family.
I went to visit him, and we had a long talk about his
life and the time when he worked for my dad when my dad was ill so many years
ago. He talked about his time in the army in the Dutch East Indies (now
Indonesia), and gradually, we got around to his illness. He told me that when he
was first told that he had only a few weeks to live, he went through a really
deep valley. He said that for three days, he was in total darkness. He said that
he had never experienced anything like it. He knew that he believed; he was sure
of his faith; he knew that there was a place reserved for him in heaven; and
yet, he went through this period of darkness for three days and three nights.
And then after three days, he suddenly saw a bright
light in the distance which gradually penetrated the darkness that he was in,
and he was at peace. I marvelled at the way that he was at peace with his
situation and how assured that he was of his faith in Jesus. His time of
darkness was over, and he quoted the well-known psalm:
Psalm 23:4 – Yea, though I walk through the valley of
the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for You are with me; Your rod and Your
staff, they comfort me. (NKJV)
Yes, he surely did walk through the valley of the
shadow of death for three terrifying days, and then, the peace that only Jesus
can give encompassed him, and he was assured, through faith, that he would dwell
in the house of the Lord forever.
That is the great comfort of the Word of God. When the
time comes for those who trust in Him, we are assured that Christ will guide our
feet across the great divide, and we, too, will live in the house of the Lord
forever.
Prayer: Our Father in heaven, we thank You for the
words of Scripture which are such a comfort to us in times of trouble. We thank
You that whatever dark situation we are in, You will give us light. We offer
this prayer in Jesus' name. Amen.
Joel Jongkind Meaford, Ontario, Canada
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