Tunnels

I have never met a tunnel I liked, and I have met a few of them. The Holland and Lincoln Tunnels pass under the Hudson River and link New Jersey and New York City. The Baltimore Tunnel stretches under Baltimore Harbor. The Eisenhower Tunnel is the highest vehicular tunnel in the world. It crosses the Continental Divide in Colorado at an average elevation of 11,112 feet.

Almost as soon as I enter a tunnel I look for light at the other end. A long, dark tunnel simply doesn’t enthrall me.

We all pass through dark “tunnels” when we experience trials. Some are shorter than others, and none are pleasant. We may accept them as inevitable, but we hope to find light at the end of each one. Job entered a long tunnel when Satan targeted him for grim trials. He must have thought the tunnel would never end when in the midst of his severe trials he received advice from his wife to “curse God and die” (Job 2:9). But he kept on trusting God and continued his search for light at the end of the tunnel. It arrived in the form of a revelation of God that caused Job to see both God and himself more clearly than ever (38:1—42:6). Beyond the trials Job was doubly blessed by an all-wise and all-loving God (12-17).

The Rapture may occur in our lifetime, but if it doesn’t, each of us will experience life’s darkest trial, but even then light will shine at the end of the tunnel. We will see the light of heaven—the light of Jesus’ face.