God and the 3 train

One thing that has changed dramatically for me is transportation. I miss my car. But at the same time, with gas costing more than milk and eggs, I have managed to live without it. In the subway the other night though, my mind was brought to a popular adage. I was in a rush for a meeting on the other side of town, something that has happened a number of times, and found myself at the familiar place around the edge of the subway platform. You can always tell the people that are rushing in the subway by the way they peer over the edge of the platform, trying desperately to catch a glance of the oncoming train they yearn for.

I am usually one of those people.

On this particular day though, I was thinking in my head, "Please, just let me see a light! All I need is a light!" Because when you see the light, you know the train is right behind it. Then it dawned on me, that this is what is meant by "light at the end of the tunnel".

You see, all my life I figured that "light at the end of the tunnel" was a metaphor for those going through a tunnel. I thought it was exclusively for those that were trying to get out. Light, in that scenario, was indicative of the way out, it was a symbol of freedom from the tunnel, or the end of a very daunting journey underground. Hope. In my recent experience in the subway, light is indicative of rescue, it is a symbol of deliverance and aid through the tunnel, a sign that aid is around the corner. Hope.

This thought was further enforced when I passed by Isaiah 40:31, "But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; they shall walk, and not faint." Surely, I could not rampage through the tunnels of New York demanding the 3 train to Brooklyn, just as one cannot expect to burrow through the tunnels of life and demand God. Our tunnels of life, our dark times, our confusing times, are sometimes met best when one has patience. When one waits on the light.

In my instance, the 3 train picked me up, and took me to Brooklyn for my meeting. And throughout my time here in New York, in work, school and life, I have learned to be more patient and to take things one day at a time.

God will pick us up and take us where we need to be, but we have to go to the station ourselves.