The thunder was echoing outside when the lights in our house flickered and went out. My sons and I had gone to the basement to wait out the storm, and we found ourselves in almost complete darkness. We rummaged around to find a flashlight, waited until the worst of the weather seemed to have turned just to rain, and climbed upstairs to a dim first floor.
Even though we knew the power was out throughout the whole house, we instinctively turned to the light switches. Something inside you believes that if you just flip that switch, the room will light up—as it always does. We are creatures of habit, and we know that the flick of a switch brings light. But, of course, with the power out, nothing happens.
Still, your hand reaches for that switch—again and again—trying to restore light to the darkness of the room. You flip and flip, but the house stays dark.
We crave light. We seek it out. Without it, we fumble around, trying to find what we need, like the rarely used flashlight that’s been safely tucked out of sight. And we reach for the light switches again and again. Eventually, we know, light will return. We just don’t know how long we will be living in the darkness. But we flip those switches, even though nothing happens.
I found myself thinking of faith.
Losing electricity is always frustrating. On a hot summer night, we had no air conditioning, and the house was getting warm. Not being able to wash dishes and shower and spend time using electronic devices feels so limiting.
But it’s also a little bit of an adventure. And, when we lose electricity, we know that the power will return. We trust we will not always be living in in the dark. We have faith that the electricity will come back on. And it always does.
Faith is a beautiful gift. Believing and trusting that tomorrow may be better and brighter is what helps us walk through today. And when the light returns, we are more grateful than ever for all that we have been given.
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