Someone Turned the Light On

Phil wakes to the sound of a chainsaw buzzing nearby. He feels he hasn't slept at all as he groggily rolls over and flips on his bedside lamp's switch. Nothing. Then he fully wakes and remembers the storm that rolled through last night leaving him and his little neighborhood in the dark. It sounds like the storm may have packed a bigger punch than he realized so he gets up, grabs the pants he draped over his chair and quickly slides them on. Stepping into the closet, he instinctively slides the light switch to bright and is immediately reminded of the power outage. "Old habits really do die hard" he says to himself as he steps out of the dark closet to open the curtains in the bedroom. As he rounds the corner he trips on Churchill. Any other time the old cat wouldn't budge until he heard the can opener but, for whatever reason, this morning he felt it necessary to see what Phil was doing in the dark. With a few choice words from Phil and a loud, piercing meow from Churchill they both exit the bedroom in a tizzy of fur and house shoes. "You goofy cat!" Phil exclaims as he scoops Churchill up and begins apologizing. "I'm sorry buddy. Are you OK? You've got to stop getting under my feet like that! Come on, let's see what's going on outside."

Phil trudges down the hallway and to the kitchen door, plopping Churchill on the entry bench as he peers out the window into the daylight. Squinting as his eyes adjust he can see what the activity is all about. A large limb has fallen across James's driveway and he's attempting to clear it off. Phil quickly moves back to the bedroom, grabs an old tee from the hamper and pulls it over his head as he steps out the kitchen door. "Hey neighbor! How can I help you with that?" Phil yells across to James. James tosses him a pair of gloves and motions to the other side of where he's cutting. Phil gets the idea and begins pulling a large portion of the area James is cutting. Neither say a word to the other as they work together to remove the debris from the driveway. The work goes quickly and soon James's drive is clear. Phil begins stacking the tree chunks along the side of the road for city pickup. Hopefully they will be able to take care of it in the next few days. James's phone rings as he begins walking toward Phil. Phil hears him answer and realizes it's his 9 o'clock client canceling due to, of all things, a tree across their driveway. As James completes the call and places the phone back in his case Phil says "What a way to wake up, right?" James says "I'm sorry friend! I didn't want to wake the entire neighborhood but I was supposed to have a 9 o'clock job to be at. Since that doesn't seem to be the case why not come inside for a cup of tea and a fry-up. It's the least I can do to say thanks for your help."

As Phil steps through the door he notices James's desk has even more articles on it today. Along with the articles are his Bible and laptop. " Did you sleep any last night?" Phil asks James as he motions toward the desk. "Aye. Slept like a rock once I laid down. I actually got caught up in research until the storm came on. Once the power went out I worked by the light of my laptop until it's battery was threatening to shut down. By that time I was mentally exhausted anyhow so I closed up shop and turned in. Didn't know a thing about the tree limb until I lifted the garage door to leave. I'm glad Marge and the kids aren't home yet. I'm sure between the three of them I would have been up much earlier. How about you? Did the storm keep you awake?" Phil hesitates, daring to even mention the questions his research last night led him to. "It wasn't the storm that kept me up." Phil says. "I'm blaming my lack of rest on you, neighbor!" James begins apologizing again for the early morning chain saw alarm but Phil stops him mid sentence. "No James. I wasn't referring to that. Since our last conversation I've been doing some research myself. What I've found has led me to more questions than answers." James has a puzzled look on his face as he first holds up an AI article then grabs his Bible and holds it up in the other hand. "Which source are you questioning?" He asks. Phil takes a deep breath, as if diving off the deep end of the pool, then says "Both. I need help understanding this stirring inside of me that seems to be illuminating the fears of AI while, at the same time, shining hope of an escape from it's clutches." "Ah!" James exclaims, "that, my friend, is an escape that is easily attainable!" He grabs his Bible and flips the light switch on as they enter the kitchen. Each looks at the other and grins. "Well", said James, lets turn the light on shall we?"

Beginning in Luke 21 James begins to explain what Jesus meant when He spoke of escape. You see, escape means so much more than not going through earthly troubles. As a follower of Christ the troubles we encounter are light compared to the peace He provides (if we choose to walk with Him). Jesus promises life more abundant. Life that far exceeds what we experience in the physical realm. James explains to Phil that the peace of Jesus is what has sustained him through all the troubles this year has brought him.

James lets Phil know perfection is not a requirement and this relationship is a daily walk with Christ. Jesus gives us His righteousness and delivers us from the condemnation that sin brings, not only by delivering us from an eternity in hell but delivering us from the constant guilt and nagging Satan tries to put on us daily. He points out to Phil that in John we read of Christ's crucifixion, death and resurrection. What's ironic is the 53rd chapter of Isaiah tells what Jesus Christ would be like and how He would suffer for our sins. This was written centuries before Christ was born. James tells Phil that it's not just Daniel and Revelation that are spot-on in their "predictions". He challenges Phil to ask AI about some of these things.

While the future with AI looks very intimidating, for the moment it makes research about Jesus, prophecy and the Bible easier than ever. For example, prophecies fulfilled regarding Jesus Christ alone are absolutely mind-blowing. J. Barton Payne has a list in the Encyclopedia of Bible Prophecy, that isolates 191 specific predictions that contain personal references to the Messiah. Mathematician Peter Stoner famously calculated the probability of an individual fulfilling just eight of these prophecies by chance as not just 1 in 10 but 1 divided by 10 to the 17th power. When expanded to 48 prophecies, the odds drop to 1 divided by 10 to the 157th power, a number greater than the estimated total number of atoms in the universe. James told Phil these things alone prove to him that the entire Bible is not only accurate but true!

James asks Phil if he can pray with him and Phil anxiously says yes. James prays that Phil's understanding of these things they've discussed be made clearer, that he will hear God's Spirit speaking to him about how Christ's sacrifice was for him, personally. Phil's breath is taken and his heart seemingly skips a beat as James concludes the prayer with these words: "May the Lord create in you such an undeniable exhilaration regarding these things that you are breathtakingly amazed at the truth He reveals."

As Marge and the kids pull in the drive Phil stands from the kitchen table feeling much like he's just gotten off the most exciting roller-coaster ride of his life and he wants to get in line for more! Phil walks across the lawn to his door, clutching a "Choose Christ" pamphlet James placed in his hand before leaving. When he opens the door he instinctively flips on the light switch. Light illuminates the room and rushes the shadows of darkness away. Churchill is contentedly waiting for Phil to come home. Somehow Phil feels someone else is waiting for him to come home as well. Phil believes home is the best place he could possibly be...and he's certainly grateful that the lights are now on.

What about you? Are you feeling a call to return home? We were created for being at home with God and as fearful and uncertain as the future may be here, if we accept Christ as our Lord and Savior the hope of home will carry us to the very end.

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