Lost in the Wild

Have you ever been lost in the woods at night? I can tell you from personal experience that it is not something you would enjoy. It happened to me many years ago while I was staying at a Boy Scout Camp near Alliston, Ontario. It was a winter weekend and I had decided to go out snow-shoeing late in the afternoon. The camp Ranger had told my friends and I that just on the edge of the Scout property stood an old abandoned pioneer cabin that was supposed to be over 100 years old. Well, being a history buff by nature, I decided to set out to see if I could find and then explore that old cabin.

Well, I can tell you that I found the cabin, but I got lost trying to get back to the Camp. It was very windy that afternoon and I never expected that my snowshoe tracts would be filled in with snow so quickly. To my horror, the trail back to the Camp had disappeared! There was absolutely no trace of it whatsoever! Quickly it seemed as if afternoon turned into evening and I was still lost. I can remember thinking about the possibility of sleeping in a snow bank over night, but decided to press on instead. It’s strange how the mind plays tricks on you when you’re really scared. I mean, the wind seems to howl much louder, and every noise in the forest seems to catch your attention. Panic sets in quickly. In all of this, I can remember feeling a growing desperation to get home. But just as I was wondering what to do next, suddenly off in the distance I could see a warm, welcoming light shining out of one of the Scout cabins windows. I was safe! I had made it! Never did light from a cabin window look so wonderful!

The person who does not know Jesus Christ may experience some of those same feelings of desperation and lostness. Empty and without hope, so many turn to drugs, alcohol or immoral relationships in an attempt to dull the pain that just doesn’t seem to go away. But there is good news! In the midst of the darkness, Jesus shines out as an answer to the desperate situations people face. In John 8:12, He says, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life” (NIV).