The Glow of Faith

Sooner or later, we all face circumstances that are beyond our control. The question in those moments is what do we do when there’s nothing we can do?

Future astronaut Jim Lovell faced that situation in 1954 as a navy pilot. He was on a routine training mission over the Sea of Japan one moonless night when his instruments failed. Without warning, his whole world became darkness. To make matters worse, he had no way to visually spot his carrier because the lights had been turned off to avoid enemy detection. Jim Lovell was hopelessly lost and faced certain death.

But then: as close to a miracle as he could hope for. Lovell noticed a faint glow cutting a trail through the dark waters beneath him. That trail turned out to be a special kind of algae that glows when it’s disturbed. The thing disturbing the algae was Lovell’s aircraft carrier churning through the water. With a glowing trail as his guide, Lovell got his jet back on course and landed safely.

When circumstances are beyond our control, we need rescue. We need something or someone to intervene and do for us what we can’t do for ourselves. That is the essence of faith in Jesus. We’ve all paced a hospital floor, lost sleep over a loved one, or kept vigil late into the night until someone returned safely home. It’s in those moments that faith illuminates the darkness, replacing fear and uncertainty with courage and hope. It’s when we’re most lost that faith leads us home.