Our guidebook
Bible Reading: John 1:1-5
Author: Sandy Kirby Quandt (Texas, US)
Author: Sandy Kirby Quandt (Texas, US)
Friday 1 May 2026 © The Upper Room.
One autumn, my husband and I hiked beneath Diamond Head crater in Hawaii. It was a strenuous climb filled with pitch-black tunnels, a spiral staircase, other steep stairs and a tight squeeze through a concrete bunker built during World War II. I had read the guidebook and brought a torch to show us the path through the dark. When the way was difficult, it took a lot of effort to keep going. It would have been much easier to give up. But if we had given up, we would have missed the magnificent view that awaited us.
Much like that hike, life events can make us fearful, stressed or exhausted. We may feel as if we are walking straight uphill or as if we are lost in a dark tunnel. Our situations can be so tight and constricted, we aren’t sure we’ll make it to the glorious view ahead.
Whenever circumstances threaten to undo me, I remember that hike in Hawaii. Because I had read the guidebook, I was prepared. I also remember that the psalmist said that God’s word, our guidebook, is a light for our journey, and I open its pages. I want God’s light for each step of my journey through life.
Prayer: Dear God, thank you for being a light on our path during our times in the dark. Amen
