There’s nothing quite as disorienting and terrifying as getting lost in the mountains at night. I speak from personal experience.
My buddy Donnie Coxsey, an experienced outdoorsman, introduced me to the wonderful world of elk hunting. He had previously taken me on several antelope-hunting expeditions across the windswept plains of Wyoming. But elk hunting with Donnie was different. To reach his favorite hunting site required a rigorous trek into the Rocky Mountains of Colorado.
Loading up his Ford F-150 truck before dawn, we set out on our adventure into the majestic mountain range, first on a highway, then on gravel roads, and finally on bumpy dirt roads. A few hours later we arrived at one of his prized hunting spots deep in the rugged Rockies. After we quickly set up camp, Donnie laid out the plan. “Go up that mountain,” he said, pointing to the giant mountain southwest of the campsite. “Get toward the top and wait there, because that’s where the elk usually graze.” (He had been there the previous week to check out the grazing patterns of the herd in that area.)
“I’ll go over there,” he said, pointing to the mountain just north of my mountain. “If you get an elk, shoot two more times, and I’ll make my way up your mountain and help you gut it and pack it out.”
As a testament to his hunting prowess, Donnie’s freezer at home was always full of wild game, so I didn’t doubt his instructions. Grabbing the 300 Weatherby rifle he was loaning me, I trekked up the big mountain.
By the time I reached my perch atop the mountain, I was drenched in sweat from the climb. The perspiration, combined with the coolness of the morning air, left me shivering until the warm sun climbed higher in the crisp blue sky. The rustling of the leaves, the sounds of the birds, and the presence of the Spirit reminded me of the grandeur of the one who designed the breathtaking beauty all around me.
With my eyes peeled for antlers and fur and my ears tuned to breaking branches, I waited hour after hour for a cow elk to appear so I could, like Donnie, fill my freezer with a year’s full of delicious elk meat.
Sadly, I spotted nothing bigger than a chipmunk that day.
Lost in the Dark: A Realization of Hope
As the sun began to drop and the air cooled, it was clearly time to get back to camp. Grabbing my backpack of half-eaten food, I slung my rifle across my back and began the trek down the mountain. But I had miscalculated how long it would take to get back.
As dusk moved to dark, my heart rate accelerated. I strained my eyes just to see a few feet in front of me. Then the realization hit me like a bullet. I was lost.
My mind raced. Do I fire a couple of shots in the air to let Donnie know I’m okay? Do I just sit down in the middle of the forest and wait until morning? Are there bears in this area, and are they hungry for lost preachers?
Panicked prayers catapulted from my heart to heaven. God, please let me find my way out of here. Please keep me safe. Please get me back to camp.
Slowly and carefully, I felt my way through the pitch-blackness of the trees. But just as I was about to give up and hunker down for a bone-chilling, far-below-freezing, potentially hypothermic night, I caught a glimpse of something flickering in the distance between the trees. Relief flooded through me. The dancing light in the distance was a campfire. I didn’t know whose it was, but I knew that where there was a campfire, there was a camp.
The Power of Light in a Dark World
With my eyes riveted to the dancing flames, I cautiously moved through the trees toward the glimmering light. After a quarter mile of slow, meticulous progress, I broke free from the forest. The blazing fire was now clearly visible, as was the individual standing by it—Donnie. Deducing I was lost, he had built the biggest campfire possible, hoping I would see it and make my way toward camp.
There’s something about a light shining in the darkness that becomes a beacon of hope. Maybe that’s why Jesus said,
“Let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven” (Matthew 5:16).
We live in a world that is spiritually dark. Despair and fear are frequent companions for those lost in the cold, black night. But when you shine a light in the darkness, the lost can find their way to safety when they follow your light to its ultimate source—Jesus himself.
Building Your Own Blazing Bonfire of Hope
How can you build a campfire so big and bright that it cannot be missed through the trees? Jesus gives you the secret for building this fire in Matthew 5:3-12. In ten verses Jesus reveals the secret for living in such a countercultural way that you can’t help but shine. Some call this passage of Scripture the Beatitudes. I call it “How to Build a Blazing Bonfire of Hope in a Dizzyingly Dark World.”
It starts with the spark that comes from being “poor in spirit” and mourning over your sin. When you humbly realize you are spiritually bankrupt before God and become aware of your inability to save yourself, you are ready to meekly receive the gift of life through faith alone in Christ alone.
How to Add Fuel to Your Fire of Hope
But that’s just the start to becoming a light in the darkness.
You add kindling to this fire when you hunger and thirst for righteousness, instead of for your rights and delights. You add branches to this blaze when you are merciful to those who are mean to you. Purity of heart, peacemaking, and rejoicing in the midst of persecution and mockery add more logs to your fire.
These actions, these attitudes are the anti-darkness. They are the complete opposite of how the world is wired to respond. They are a bright light in a dark world.
Jesus: The Light of the World
Jesus embodied these actions and attitudes. He could confidently declare,
“I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life” (John 8:12).
When you shine the light of Christ through your life by living out the Beatitudes with an attitude of love, humility, and courage, the lost will see your light flickering through the darkness, and that firelight will guide them safely home.
Adapted from Radical like Jesus: 21 Challenges to Live a Revolutionary Life by Greg Stier, releasing in August 2024.
