[MUSIC PLAYING] – When things are going well, it’s much easier to trust and have faith in God. We think all things are possible and nothing is going to stop us. The challenge is when things don’t go as well as we planned and hope for. When we begin to think that God seems to be very far away from us and we wonder, will God come through for us?
All of us, at some point or another, have been there, and if not, live long enough, and you will be there. There are times when we feel that God is so far from us and that we need to try everything else but God. But what if you tried God and trusted God with all your heart, your mind, and strength?
It reminds me of the man who was trapped underneath the ground– Bobby Spencer, a coal miner from West Virginia. He was working that day when a shaft collapsed, and him and his colleagues were buried underneath. And as he began to look around after the dust settled, he realized that maybe he was alone. He couldn’t hear none of his coworkers. He felt some either had been able to escape or others were really, kind of, maybe had died.
Upstairs, or above the ground, they were trying to figure out, was there any life underneath? They put the mechanical devices, but they could hear no sound. And after a while they, too, gave up and figured everybody’s dead– but Bobby didn’t. Bobby knew that he had to find a way to try to get out of this place. And he began to do what he did best– to dig.
And he dug and he dug and he dug. But while he was digging and moving rocks, a verse from his childhood came back to his mind– first, that he learned in Sunday school. It says, I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. And there he was– one more rock out of the way. I can do all things through Christ that strengthens me. And he moved something else and he dug deeper. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. Until he finally saw the light. There became the opportunity of him getting out of that Earth, getting out of that tunnel.
I don’t have the faintest idea what it is to feel what Bobby felt. I don’t know what it is to feel trapped underneath the earth, all dark, with no light around me. But I do know, and I think most of us know what it feels to be spiritually in a dark place, to find ourselves looking for light, looking for a hope, and looking for an opportunity that God will respond to us.
You see, Bobby never gave up on God. Bobby never gave up on himself– what others did. Bobby kept trusting and believing that God was with him. See when God is trusted, God can do things for us. So I encourage you, if you’re in a place of darkness, and a place that seems to be difficult, trust God. If you tried everything else, give God a chance. Trust Him with all your heart, with all your mind, and with all your strength. And I can believe this with all my heart– that like Bobby, you too will find the light of God in your life, and the whole of your life in God. God bless you.
