A Wild Journey in the Darkness

The branches seemed to come from everywhere; the trees were harder to see in the increasing  darkness. The soft ground was uneven with unexpected holes, and the moving voices around me  were disorientating as I could not distinguish where each one was located: some squealing with  delight, some a mixture of excitement and fear. I strained to hear the ones I had not yet registered,  anticipating their nerves. 

This seemed like a good idea when I planned it - a Night Walk on the Youth Camp! 

While we had a leader from Assington guiding us through the woods, I must confess my faith  wavered slightly when I experienced first hand the dangers and trials that awaited us, especially as I  found myself not only thinking of me but the young people I had essentially taken into this  ‘wilderness’ with me, under the suggestion of ‘a fun thing to do’. I looked at my fellow leader with  disbelief as the woods got thicker, noises became eerier and the path became more treacherous - it  was all we could do but laugh at the situation we found ourselves in. We were bringing up the rear,  the experienced Guide leading the way.  

Rumours filtered back about a large and threatening creature we should look out for, I suspected it  was ‘a bit of fun’ but there was a slight element of doubt in my mind as I comforted young people  and reassured them that there was nothing to be afraid of. Boys who had insisted they did not need  

long trousers now were complaining of scratches on their legs, someone had dropped their torch and  suddenly, deep in the thicket, several needed the loo.  

Challenge. Chaos. Fear. Uncertainty. Doubt. Uneven and winding path. Unclear destination. The  threat of a threat. 

When suddenly a huge inflatable snake with neon patterns appeared in the ground and everyone  laughed (most breathed a sigh of relief) and all claimed to have known it was a joke all along. 

Why did this all seem familiar? I found myself embodying what can so often feel like our walk of  faith. How much trust do we need to follow the one who calls us? The Bible tells us that there will  be times of testing, and Jesus himself endured the wilderness for 40 days before beginning his  ministry, so we should not be surprised by challenge. We can easily become afraid in those times if  we lose sight of God’s truth. The uneven ground, the darkness, the distractions of others around us -  all these things can discourage us and take our attention away from God. But the one who leads us  knows exactly where we are going, and he would never lead us through paths that destroy us. We  are never promised an easy journey. 

Just like our leader from Assington, God is completely in control of where he is taking us. God  knows the dangers and the joys and he equips us to deal with them. He protects us and nourishes us.  Let us not lose heart and forget why we follow him in the first place. Let us not shy away from  challenge due to fear. God sometimes asks us to do things that are uncomfortable and even difficult  for us. There is always a reason, and we can trust him for that. We do not need to fear the darkness  because God is always with us, always close by. We do not need to be afraid of snakes, or monsters  or evil in this world, because Jesus has destroyed their power over us through his resurrection. The  threat on our night walk was inflatable, and so deflatable: it could never hurt us. It reminds me to  persevere and remember what is true and what matters. Now death, where is your sting? Our  destination is promised, we need only keep following Jesus.