Seeking Light When You’re Surrounded by Darkness

A few years ago, my friends and I traveled to Ireland. While we were there, I was the driver for our group. In the beginning, I thought it would be nerve-racking to drive on the opposite side of the road in a foreign country, so I was surprised when driving came so naturally to me. Not once during the trip did I feel fear while driving the narrow, bumpy, and windy roads.

That is, until the day we were set to return home.

Our flight back home was leaving very early in the morning, so my six friends and I sleepily piled into our car at 4:00 in the morning. About an hour into the drive, I was the only one awake. It was quiet, rainy, and extremely dark, and I felt an overwhelming sense of fear overcome me as I drove, not able to see much of the road in front of me. I was keenly aware that I had six precious lives in my hands. I wanted to pull over until the weather cleared, but I couldn’t, or we would miss our flight.

Finding Light

As my fear grew worse, I did the only thing I could think of—I prayed.

I told Heavenly Father how afraid I was and asked Him to help us get to the airport safely. But the rain kept coming down just as hard.

Right when I was about to break down in tears and felt like I couldn’t go any further, an entire street of lampposts appeared seemingly out of nowhere, lighting my way. I instantly thought of my Savior and how much light He brought into my life. I knew without a doubt that He and Heavenly Father were aware of me as I felt Their tender mercy over me.

They knew my fears and erased them in just a few seconds with light.

Filled with a renewed sense of confidence, I continued on the road. Within what felt like seconds, however, I suddenly found myself in darkness again, with the light fading behind me. Fortunately, with that sliver of confidence I had gained from the lampposts, the darkness was no longer as consuming.

This became a pattern through the rest of the drive. Each time I was about to cry with overwhelming fear to my Heavenly Father, thinking, “I can’t do this,” light would appear, enabling me to keep going. And eventually, we made it to the airport.

We Can Always Turn to Christ

This experience reminds me of our journey through life. We encounter our own personal rain, darkness, fears, unknown paths, and loneliness at times. There are moments when we feel that we can’t keep going, that the light can’t reach us, that we’re not capable, or that no one understands the darkness we find ourselves in. But I want to share with you my personal witness that there is someone who understands.

Jesus Christ. “The light and the life of the world” (3 Nephi 9:18). The one who suffered for each of us personally. He knows you, and He knows your fears. And His hands are outstretched, ready to help you.

Every time we find ourselves in darkness, whether it’s because of our own choices or the choices of others or circumstances simply beyond our control, we can continue to choose to turn to Him. And He will provide light for us. Although that light might not always be instantaneous, like it was during my drive through Ireland, Jesus Christ is always with us and will give us the strength we need to continue forward to that light.

In my darkest hour, I was given the opportunity to rely on hope and faith. I was reminded that I wasn’t alone and that with Him, I could overcome everything that came my way. Elder Timothy J. Dyches of the Seventy testified at the April 2021 general conference that “as we intensify our faith in Christ, we receive light in intensifying measure until it dispels all darkness that might gather around us.”¹

I invite you to deepen your faith and trust in the Savior. He is there to send light into your life in whatever form you need. And He can dispel any darkness that might be surrounding you. As Elder Jeffrey R. Holland of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles reminded us, “It is not possible for you to sink lower than the infinite light of Christ’s Atonement shines.”²

All we have to do is turn to Him.

Notes

1. Timothy J. Dyches, “Light Cleaveth unto Light,” Liahona, May 2021, 113.
2. Jeffrey R. Holland, “The Laborers in the Vineyard,” Liahona, May 2012, 33.