From the Editor’s Heart

The editorial from the final issue of the YLCF Journal seemed a fitting piece with which to close this month of re-posts from the archives of our print magazine.  I wrote it in a season of waiting, during the autumn of 2003.  That next January, that man I loved told me he loved me, too.

But the seasons of waiting were just beginning.  Waiting to officially start our courtship.  Waiting to get engaged.  Waiting to get married.  Waiting to have children.  Waiting for our baby to be born.  Waiting to sleep through the night again…

I’m learning that life is about trusting and waiting and trusting some more.  And I pray that in whatever God is asking you to trust Him for right now, whatever you’re waiting for today, your heart will be encouraged: God’s timing is perfect; He is never late.

Autumn 2003
in the YLCF Journal #32

Dear Friends,

Corrie Ten Boom once said, “When a train goes through a tunnel and it gets dark, you don’t throw away the ticket and jump off. You sit still and trust the engineer.”

When I was a little girl, I was afraid of the dark.  I always had to have a night light in my bedroom.  My young siblings are the same way, calling out every night, “Leave the hall light on and my door open!”  Last fall I began reading Stormie Omartian’s book Just Enough Light for the Step I’m On, and I realized that I’m still afraid of the dark—but in a different way.  I’m afraid when I can’t see ahead in my life—when I don’t know what lies around the next bend or at the end of the tunnel.  Not knowing what will happen next has characterized my year.  But I’m slowly learning that it’s those times of darkness that God uses in my life to teach me to trust Him more.

Everything He’s been teaching me through the years could be summed up in the title to my favorite hymn: “Trust and Obey.”  Two simple words, with so much meaning.

The first few lines of the hymn read, “When we walk with the Lord in the light of His Word, what a glory He sheds on our way!”  Looking back, I can see many times I’ve been “afraid of the dark.”  But God gave me just enough light for the step I was on.  He shed light on my path in the end, and worked all things together for good.  In retrospect, I see that He was always faithful.

The Psalms is one of my favorite parts of the Bible, because it records the prayers and praises of other pilgrims along the way.  It seems there is a Psalm to fit whatever I’m going through.  Reading King David’s psalms, I see that the man after God’s own heart was afraid of the dark at times, too.  But he always came back to simply obeying, trusting in his God to light his path—and of course, God was always faithful to David, too.

Since the previous issue of the YLCF Journal, my life has taken on many new dimensions!  I’d never have guessed what would be around some of these bends, but God has truly been faithful to light the way.

~~~

The other day I read the story of a child who once asked another, “Would you be afraid to ride in the kind of chariot Elijah had?”

“Not if God drove it,” was the reply.  In the same way, I don’t need to be afraid when the train of my life goes through a tunnel—because God is driving.  And truly, it’s an exciting ride!

So as I reflect on this past year, seeing where God has brought me, and look to the future and the dark, unknown path of tomorrow, my part is to trust the Engineer.  I know that He will give me “just enough light for the step I’m on,” so I can continue to follow Jesus for the rest of my life, no turning back.

Trusting Him,
Gretchen