The Faintest Flicker of Faith
I’ve come to believe that each of us has an inner spirit of truth that helps us recognize the truth when we’re looking for it. This is the inner part of us that resonates when we have an aha moment or when something we read, hear, or see strikes a responsive chord. It’s like an inner tuning fork. These experiences were pretty rare when I started this journey, but they have become more frequent as I learn to provide fertile ground and opportunities for them to occur.
I was camping in a large valley on the South Buffalo Fork River in a wilderness area of Wyoming. I pitched camp in a golden aspen grove and enjoyed the fall twilight. I could see almost two miles up the valley and almost a mile downriver. Deepening clouds threatened a thunderstorm before morning. I checked the horses, read for a while by lantern light, and went to sleep. A few hours later, I awoke to an awesome light-and-sound show, rarely experienced in the lowlands. Thunder bounced off the mountains and rolled across the valley; lightning flashed brighter than any Fourth of July fireworks. I could see the horses in the bursts of light and I knew they were doing fine. After the storm passed, I went over to them, checked everything, and calmed them down. Walking back to my tent, I switched off my light and observed the absolute blackness. Somehow civilization makes me forget the impenetrable darkness of a moonless night in the wilderness. I’m repeatedly surprised by the complete absence of light.
The valley was totally black, not even a hint of light in what had been a two-mile vista before dark. Then I remembered a phrase I had read that said, God ever responds to the faintest flicker of faith. Standing there completely alone, I scratched a match to flame. Seeing this little bitty flame in the vast darkness gave that saying a deeper meaning. I held in my hand the only source of light for miles. This simple statement told me that, if this flame represented a feeble attempt at faith, God would find it and respond to it. I realized that it was even better than that. If I had a barely perceptible flicker and the entire universe was in darkness, He would even find and respond to that. Wow! Pretty awesome. I stayed up for over an hour thinking about that, but I slept like a baby when I finally turned in.
From: Spiritual Engineering 2014, Thomas Strawser
Tate Publishing