The famous Scottish preacher, John McNeil, once related this moving personal incident from his life:
As a boy, little John went to work at a place far away from home. Every day he had to walk back home through a dense forest and across a lonely ravine. People said wild animals and notorious criminals roamed the ravine. Little John would cross the ravine every day in absolute dread. What if… what if…?
One night, he was very late getting back from work. The moon was hidden behind dark, threatening clouds. The ravine was in pitch darkness as the little boy made his way across, his heart beating in cold terror. Footsteps seemed to follow him, and a voice was heard in the distance.
John McNeil stopped. He couldn’t walk any further. He felt he could not even breathe out. So terrified was he! Now he heard the footfall clearly, and the voice called out, “John, John!”
It was his father’s voice!
Knowing that the boy was late and being aware of his fear of the ravine, the father had decided to go out and meet his son, so that they could walk together across the ravine.
Out of the darkness, the loving figure of the father emerged, and took the boy by the hand. The boy felt the father’s arms around him – and it was the sweetest and most wonderful sensation of his life!
“His coming changed the whole experience for me,” John McNeil would recall, in later days.
God is your Father and my Father. In times of despair and darkness, we can hear His voice – for He will unfailingly come to meet us. He will be there when we need Him. All we have to do is trust Him absolutely and completely.
(Dada J. P. Vaswani is a humanitarian, philisopher, educator, acclaimed writer, powerful orator, messiah of ahimsa, and non-sectarian spiritual leader.)
