THANKFUL

The two candles had been the scribe’s faithful helper all these years.  Their illumination chased away the darkness, so the writer had a clear view of the parchment as he recorded the sacred words that came from deep within his soul.  As time went by, the scribe observed that one candle remained strong and gave a constant supply of bright light but, for whatever reasons, the other’s light continued to dim. Finally one day, as darkness overcame the light of day, the candle was barely glowing–far from the bright light it used to be.

Do the stories of these two candles sound similar to the stories of many people?  One candle reflects who I was.

I was looking at my world unrealistic through glasses that had no room for failure.  I graduated school, had my future planned, and was the gung-ho engineer of the locomotive of my life–full steam ahead, on the tracks toward success.  Nothing could stop me from reaching my dream.  My light was bright for all to see.

Many of us probably have the same dream.  We dream of the ideal spouse, the perfect family, and the dream job.  We dream of world travel, of fortune and fame following us.  The dreams continue as we visualize changing the world.  Everyone knows our name and recognizes our face because we are everywhere in print and video. We would be considered the Most Interesting Person in the World. Then, reality sets in.

Events and plans in life do not turn out as expected.  That perfect job has now become a drudgery. To say the least, the ideal marriage is sometimes a struggle.  Fame and fortune?  That dream has turned into insignificance and debt.  Change our world? Get serious.  How can we change our world when we struggle just to fine purpose in our mundane lives.  We look at the future and see no sense of direction.

Depression sets in and we ask ourselves, “Is this all there is? Maybe things will get better but, I don’t think so.”  The dream that was once bright in our spirits is now only a fading ember that grows dimmer every day. Now, the dream is barely a resemblance of the prize we thought we were promised.

The writer gently blew on the smoldering wick.  He didn’t blow too hard or it would be too much and the flame would die out. No, at first, he blew tenderly to regenerate the flame that once was there.  His breath gave the smoldering wick new life.  Fire returned and it began to glow a little brighter.  With a continuation of steady, gentle breathing the flame became what it was created to do–give light to the world.  The dream and purpose was brought back to life.  As he wrote, a new revelation was revealed to Isaiah–“A smoldering wick he will not snuff out.”

That’s me.  I started out with a dream as big as Texas but then got caught in the traps of life and the snares laid by the enemy of my soul, who was slowly snuffing out my light.  I lost my way and wandered far from God.  I lost my dream and lost who I was.  All I had was a tiny flicker of a long-forgotten hope buried in my soul’s wick but, that was all God needed.  When I was as low as I could get, I called out to the Creator.  He heard my cry and gently breathed in me hope and renewed life.  As hope rose within me my dream and purpose in life returned.  I turned over control of my locomotive to a new engineer who put me on the right tracks.  My light was again shining, dispelling the darkness.

I am thankful  “A smoldering wick he will not snuff out.” (Isaiah 42:3)  Aren’t you?

Jimmy Eskew 04/10/13