The Bible contains many descriptions lightning. For instance:
12 He made darkness his canopy around him—
the dark rain clouds of the sky.
13 Out of the brightness of his presence
bolts of lightning blazed forth.
14 The Lord thundered from heaven;
the voice of the Most High resounded.
(2 Sam 22:12-14)
He unleashes his lightning beneath the whole heaven
and sends it to the ends of the earth.
(Job 37:3)
17 The clouds poured down water,
the heavens resounded with thunder;
your arrows flashed back and forth.
18 Your thunder was heard in the whirlwind,
your lightning lit up the world;
the earth trembled and quaked.
19 Your path led through the sea,
your way through the mighty waters,
though your footprints were not seen.
(Ps 77:17-19)
4 His lightning lights up the world;
the earth sees and trembles.
5 The mountains melt like wax before the Lord,
before the Lord of all the earth.
6 The heavens proclaim his righteousness,
and all peoples see his glory.
(Ps 97:4-6)
These and other descriptions reflect ancient awe at the spectacle of lightning. Electrical storms at night are especially impressive because they present an extreme contrast between light and darkness. Instantaneous alternat between opposites. One moment an observer can't see anything all. The night is pitch black. A moment later, the sky, down to the horizon, is blindingly bright. For a split second, the landscape is revealed in minute detail in searing light. Flooded with light, but drained of color.
The Christian pilgrimage is like walking home in the dark during an electrical storm. The trail is invisible in the impenetrable darkness. And there's a dangerous ravine alongside the trail. One misstep and you plunge into the ravine. But intermittent flashes of lightning illuminate the trail. For a split second, you can see ahead in crisp detail. The lightning guides you forward. But you must move in the direction you remember, from instantaneous flashes of light. Due to vision persistence, your perception the landscape lingers slightly longer than the illumination, but it fades. Most of the time, you can't see the trail. You must go by what you recall, during the last flash of lightning. But the trail isn't straight. As you're about to tumble into the ravine, there's another flash of lightning that enables you to make a last-moment correction.
The future is like a trail at night. We can't see where we're going. We're walking blind. But the journey is punctuated by flashes of lightning that show us the next stretch of the trail. Then the view goes dark. We don't walk by what we see but what we saw.
Dropping the metaphor, we have what God told us in the past (Scripture). Occasionally, God may give us a sign (miracle, revelatory dream, audible voice, answered prayer, remarkable providence), but that's unpredictable, and even if it happens, it's a flash of lightning, affording us a momentary glimpse of the way ahead, but the rest is by faith.
Similar to your metaphor, from my own experience I liken life to a series of hills and valleys.
ReplyDeleteWhen you're on the hilltop and the sun is shining, you can see valleys and more hills ahead. You know what is coming, and you're confident to deal with it.
But then you walk ahead and end up in a dark valley. From down here, you can't see anything but that valley - high walls surround and enclose you. The path ahead looks hopeless. You might fall into depression and give up.
But then... Eventually you climb back up the next hill, and again the view is uplifting. Looking back on the valley you had been in, your realize that is was only temporary - and not all that deep either. You were silly to think it was all-encompassing or forever! And again you can see clearly the valleys and hills yet to be reached.
And now the important thing is this - as you enter the next valley of life, REMEMBER that it is temporary and finite - a new hill awaits! Remember how foolish you had been to think of the valley as forever, and don't let yourself fool yourself again. Keep walking, and you already know from past experience that you will get through the dark times.