The light at the end of the tunnel

It always seems to me as if things tend to get easier when I can see the light at the end of the tunnel.  When I am unable to see the end nearby, things tend to be tougher. John 8:12 says: When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life." Holllllddddddd on! Jesus is the light of the world.... He's the light at the end of every one of our tunnels.  Why do we have to go through dark tunnels to get to the light though? A tunnel is simply defined as a passageway surrounded by walls that have an entrance and an exit. They aren't meant to be forever long walkways, they are meant to go from one place to another with JESUS AS THE LIGHT AT THE END OF THE TUNNEL! Sometimes our tunnels have names like, "lesson" or "reason" or "season". Tunnels bring us from one place to another and it's scary to travel these tunnels alone and in the dark, but that's why Jesus walks alongside us and even a little in front of us guiding the way. Don't try to walk this life alone, we're not meant to (tenth avenue north says its best with their song No Man Is An Island; we're not meant to live this life alone). Sometimes it's hard to see the light at the end of the tunnel because we cloud our vision with things like work, money, and other "things" ... And when we have cloudy vision, it's hard to see the light at the end. I challenge you to really find out what is clouding your vision while walking through whatever tunnel you are in right now. One thing I know I need to work on is to stop trying to be who I think people want me to be. I really need to take pride in enjoying the things I enjoy and wearing the clothes I like to wear and drinking my coffee the way I like to drink it. Too often I want to be like someone else I look up to and adore, but my goal shouldn't be to be like them, it should be to be the type of person that other people look at and say, "I want that". If I don't wear a necklace every single day, but dwell on the fact that I wish I was the girl whose outfit looked cuter because she did wear one, I'm missing out on someone else thinking they wish they could pull off simplicity. If I choose prefer to listen to silence in the car when a friend is riding with me for fear that my Christian music is going to offend them, I'm missing out on the opportunity to witness to them. If I choose to not go dancing because I don't want to be the worst one there, then I'm missing out on a great night full of fun. I need to suck up my selfishness and ditch my cloudy view of the tunnel itself and put my eyes on the light at the end of the tunnel because "God won't bring you to it if He won't bring you through it!"

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A letter from God

When my human mind tries to think about what a letter from God addressed to me might look like, I'm defeated. 1 Timothy begins with, "To Timothy, my true child in the faith..." WOW! I'm pretty sure I read this same verse about 20 times in awe! "My true child in the faith..." That's powerful! Then my [human] mind begins to think about what the letter addressed to me might look like. "To Denise, my worry wort. Have I not told you to not be anxious?" Nah, I highly doubt God almighty would use the term "worry wort", but that would be a viable letter. Maybe Matthew 8:26 is a letter addressed to us all? "You of little faith, why are you so afraid?" If faith is believing in something we cannot see (thanks Super Kid Academy ...definitely taking you back to my childhood), it appears more times than not that it's easy to have FAITH when things are going great. It's the trying times that we need faith the most, but it's the trying times when it's the hardest to remain faithful.  Matthew 17:20 says,  "Because you have so little faith. Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you." A mustard seed! A tiny bit of faith will move mountains, yet we drop that seed sometimes and don't even bother to try to pick it up. We defeat ourselves. What mountains are in your way? Is it a job you hate, or a job you love too much? Is it an unhealthy relationship? Is it finances? Is it simply too much on your plate? Personally, I thrive when I'm busy. Working three jobs, getting home late, waking up early just to do it all over again, I consider that successful. Until stress hits me...hard. My back hurts, I have ulcers in my mouth so bad I can hardly eat, migraines every single day ... and then it's not success anymore. I'm not saying being lazy is a good thing, I'm not saying staying busy out of your mind is a good thing ... I'm saying my goal is to find that balance. The balance of working my hardest to be a successful teacher and building lifetime relationships instead of working 3 jobs and getting home in enough time to maybe eat dinner, shower, and go to bed ... all to wake up and do it again. It's a mind-shift. I'm shifting gears from what God made most important in my life for a season and building off of what He put in my life for a reason. Kutless' song That's What Faith Can Do says:  "Life is so much more than what your eyes are seeing; You will find a way if you keep believing..." IF WE KEEP BELIEVING! Have faith and believe that God's got a plan for your life. He may throw obstacles in your way just to test your faith. Sometimes we wait a week for things to turn around and sometimes we wait ten years for perfect timing to be revealed. Whatever the "time" you wait is, actively wait in prayer and in the word because you are a child of God and what father wants anything more than success for His children?

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