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Last Updated: Dec 12, 2008 - 4:54:39 PM |
It felt like an eternity as we drove through the nearly 1.7 miles of the Eisenhower Tunnel near Dillon, Colorado. We were surrounded by tunnel walls and I couldn’t see the end.
In life, problems come up that make people feel alone and surrounded by tunnel walls with no end in sight. When you feel this way, it is easy to think your problem will never be solved, that your tunnel with go forever and that maybe you should just give up.
However, God is always with us, no matter where we may be, no matter what we may experience. The Psalm writer says, “Where shall I go from your Spirit? Or, where shall I flee from your presence? If I shall ascend to heaven, you are there. . . If I lift up the wings of the dawn, and shall dwell at the remotest part of the sea, even there your hand shall lead me and your right hand shall take hold of me.” God promises, “Never will I give you up, nor will I ever forsake you.” The Christian can hold to these promises whenever feeling surrounded by walls and alone in whatever long tunnel he or she enters. Often our prayers are for God to take our problems away so we don’t have to go through these dreadful tunnels. I, for one, would have preferred to go around that mountain in Colorado rather than through its tunnel. I feel the same way about the tunnels (problems) of life. I would rather go around them than through them. Yet, in many cases the tunnel is the only way to go. However, we can endure the tunnel because God promises it’s not a ‘dead end,’ but rather that, at some point, it does open up to the light of day.
For this reason we need people who encourage us. I’m glad my wife was in the car with me that day in the Eisenhower Tunnel because it’s not good to face problems alone. Yet, the human tendency is to withdraw from others when problems confront us. That spells disaster. Thus, the Bible encourages Christians to “carry one another’s burdens.” Others are here to help us through our problems, just as we are here to help others through their problems. God has placed people in our path to help us carry whatever problem we face and to go with us through any tunnel we enter. Our pastor is one of them.
How do I know God can get us through the tunnel of any problem? Because he has already taken care of our biggest problem – the problem of judgment against our sin. In Jesus God took our sin upon himself and faced this judgment for us. The Bible says that Jesus “bore our sins in his body on the cross.” Through the cross of Jesus God brought us forgiveness and life. If God did that for our greatest problem, then he certainly can get us through the other problems we face in life. There is always light at the end of whatever tunnel we travel because God travels with us. Wherever God is, there is also his light.
During World War II, Corrie Ten Boom suffered in a concentration camp because she hid Jews from the Nazis. It was a long and dark time for her. Yet, she learned a lesson that she took with her throughout her life. She learned, “There is no pit so deep that God’s love is not deeper still.” The same holds true for any tunnel we enter.
Pastor Douglas Morton is pastor of St. John’s Lutheran Church, Marengo. His email is pastor@forgiveninchrist.com.
Bible verses for the above article are from Psalm 139:7-8a, 9-10; Hebrews 13:5; Galatians 6:2 and 1 Peter 2:24.
© Copyright 2008 by The East Iowa Herald
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