The Guiding Light –– A Short Story

The Guiding Light
By Sandra Jones

      Every year or so a child goes missing in the dense forests of the upper Northwest, often never to be found. It was not until my own son became lost that I learned the terror this could bring to a mother's heart…


       Ernesto was a friend my son Joseph met at school in 1995 while we were living in Gig Harbor Washington. He was a good kid, and he said that his family were all Christians. Joseph was about to turn fourteen, too old for a babysitter. But still, I didn't like for him to be alone, so I often allowed Ernesto to come to our apartment after school, and they occupied themselves playing video games while I was at work.

The boys continued to maintain their friendship even after we moved a few miles away to the much larger city of Tacoma. And when Ernesto asked one weekend if Joseph could spend the night I didn't hesitate to say yes. That night I went to bed without a thought that anything could possibly go wrong.

A little after 1:30 in the morning I awoke to the shrill sound of my telephone ringing on the nightstand beside my bed. It was my son, "Mom come get me. Ernesto's dad just came home drunk, and he is kicking me out of his house."

He sounded so desperate. But before I could ask him where he was and how to get there, he hung up the phone; and I had no Caller ID for a number to call him back.

I threw a robe on over my nightclothes and jumped in my car praying, "Dear Lord, please help me. I don't know where he is, or how to find him, but I know you do." I didn't know what to expect. I just knew that my son was in danger and I had to find him.

Shortly after crossing over the Narrows Bridge, I heard, "Take this exit."

Hmm, this was a remote area. The last that I was told Ernesto lived further up the highway in Gig Harbor. When I heard it again, I took the exit.

There were two ways to go from the stop sign at the bottom of the exit: straight, or to my right. I had never been down this road before so didn't know where either way led. It appeared that both directions led into the forest. I heard, "Turn right."

And so I did. I had been constantly praying since I hung up the phone. I had to trust that I was hearing the Lord.

I continued on until I came to a brightly lit area populated with houses and apartment complexes, which gave me a bit more hope that I was about to find my son. I drove slowly along, fully expecting that at any second the Lord would tell me, "Stop here."

He didn't, and I continued to drive until I was well past any apartments, houses, or street lights, and was again heading deep into the forest.

I thought, Lord, maybe that was not you I heard, and decided to go back the other way.

But just as I slowed to make my turn, came, "Don't turn around. Drive slow and keep going."

As I peered out into the thick darkness that blanketed this dense forest I felt such an urgency to find my son. It had now been nearly twenty minutes since I turned off Highway 16 onto the dark road I traveled and as time passed it seemed I was only getting deeper into the wilderness. The night sounds of cicadas, crickets, and other forest creatures filtering in through my rolled down windows only added to my fearful imaginations. Black bears, gray wolves, and who knows what else roamed these woods. If my son was stumbling around somewhere out there on this dark moonless night the chances of him meeting up with one of them seemed great.

Should I roll up the windows? I decided against it.

The longer I drove, the more I began to think the voice I heard was not God's until I threw my faith aside and allowed logic to take over. After all, Peter hadn't always heard Him. Maybe what I needed to do was to drive on into Gig Harbor to look for Joseph. We always agreed to meet at the McDonald's in the past. And according to my gas gauge I'd be running out of fuel soon. I began to look for a wide enough area to turn around in.

I had just made my turn when out from the brush jumped a figure that caused my already racing heart to nearly leap out of my chest... and it was running along the narrow road toward my car.

The next thing I heard was, "Mom! Stop! Mom!" and I slammed on my brakes.

Once Joseph was tucked safely into the passenger seat beside me, he said, "I tried to cut across through the forest to get to the main highway, but I got lost. If it hadn't been for your cars headlights moving slowly along in the distance I would never have been able to find this road."

Oft times God does not meet our own expectations of what we want Him to say or do, and it is not easy to toss away our own logic when He is clearly trying to lead us. His divine interventions never cease to amaze me. Truly He will show us the way if we will but trust and obey.

Psalm 139:7-12 Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence?
8 If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there.
9 If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea;
10 Even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me.
11 If I say, Surely the darkness shall cover me; even the night shall be light about me. 12 Yea, the darkness hideth not from thee; but the night shineth as the day: the darkness and the light are both alike to thee.