Flashlight Faith

By:  Dale Weckbacher

Hebrews 11:1

Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.

(ESV)

This past summer my family and I visited the Grand Canyon Caverns in Arizona.  These caverns, near the Grand Canyon, lie 210 feet below the surface.  The only way into them today is by an elevator so one can visit them without having to totally rough it. (1) The caverns are dry caverns with a constant temperature of about 55 degrees and virtually no humidity. (2) In fact, the caverns were used as a bomb shelter during the Cold War and some of the food still stored in the shelter is edible due to the lack of humidity.  (3)  Due to these caverns being 210 feet underground, if it were not for lighting installed in the caverns, one would find themselves in total darkness void of any sunlight, moonlight, or starlight.  In fact, for $850 per night 2 can stay in the cavern’s cave suite and experience total darkness.    (4)  If I were to spend a night in the cave suite, I would definitely bring a flashlight. 

I recently read a story in my devotional about a boy and his father who were hiking at night in the woods.  The only lighting they had, other than the light from the stars and moon, was a flashlight.  The young boy told his father he was afraid because the light from the flashlight did not shine very far in front of them.  The father’s answer to the boy provides an excellent picture of what faith is and how the light of God’s word illuminates the path of our lives.  The father told his son that even though the beam of the flashlight only shone a few feet ahead of them, it was sufficient light to show them the way they needed to go and that as they moved forward, the beam of the light also moved forward showing them more of the path ahead. 

Hebrews 11:1 paints a picture of faith as being assurance of things hoped for and conviction of things not seen.  On other words, we can have assurance that what is beyond the light of the flashlight of our lives and unseen is something we can with conviction leave up to God through faith.  We therefore need not fear what we cannot see in our lives and have blessed hope and assurance knowing that it is under God’s control. 

While this seems easy to do, we all struggle with this out of a desire to want to know what is in store for our future so we can plan accordingly.  We therefore must all learn to practice flashlight faith by learning to,

1)      Surrender to God’s plans for us and not our own (Jeremiah 29:11) – God promises that His plans for us are not for evil, but for our welfare.  However, God’s plans for us may not necessarily be what we want to do and therefore may come into conflict with God’s plans.  Our fears therefore in surrendering to God’s plan for our lives is not a fear rooted in lack of faith but a fear that we may not get to do what we wanted to do.  Psalm 37:4 encourages us to delight in the Lord and He will give us the desires of our hearts.  While some may erroneously interpret this verse to mean God will give us whatever we desire, the proper interpretation is that when we surrender to God, He will place our desires into alignment with His plans for our lives.

2)      Taking steps forward so the light can also move forward revealing more of what lies ahead (Psalm 119:105) – We are encouraged to constantly read and study God’s Word.  The reason for this is that as we read it, we little by little begin to understand it more.  Each time we study the Word of God we are taking a step forward and each time we move forward, the beam of the light of God’s Word moves forward revealing more of what lies ahead.

3)      Boldly moving forward knowing our final destination (John 8:12) – Jesus declared He is the light of the world and those choosing to follow Him will have the light of life.  While on this earth we may only have a flashlight of the light of God, but we have eternity living in the light of God’s glory to look forward to. 

During the course of our lives, we may find ourselves in total darkness like one may experience in the Grand Cavern Caverns.  However, when we find ourselves in these times of darkness we must surrender to God’s plans for us, take our flashlight of faith, and move forward knowing that our final destination is life in eternity basking in the light of God’s glory. 

1. Grand Cavern Caverns. About. gccaverns.com. [Online] [Cited: February 19, 2017.] http://gccaverns.com/about/.

2. Caverns, Grand Cavern. Cavern Tours. gccaverns.com. [Online] [Cited: February 19, 2017.] http://gccaverns.com/tours-activities/caverns/.

3. PTCRACY. Grand Canyon Caverns Fallout Shelter - Peach Springs, AZ - Civil Defense Fallout Shelters on Waymarking.com. www.waymarking.com. [Online] Waymarking.com, April 11, 2010. [Cited: February 19, 2017.] http://www.waymarking.com/waymarks/WM8JWN_Grand_Canyon_Caverns_Fallout_Shelter_Peach_Springs_AZ.

4. Grand Canyon Caverns. The Grand Canyon Caverns, Cavern Motel Room. gccaverns.com. [Online] Grand Canyon Caverns. [Cited: February 19, 2017.] http://gccaverns.com/rooms-packages/the-grand-canyon-caverns-cavern-motel-room/.