Finding the Way
Mr David Chilton | Head of Ministry and Service | Grammar News | 1 April 2022
I wonder if you’ve ever got lost on a walk or hike and wished you knew the way? When I was 19 I was hiking in Nepal to the Annapurna Base Camp. It was a stunning trek with teahouses every 10km or so that you could sleep in overnight. Suddenly a huge snowstorm blew in and I was utterly disorientated. I couldn’t find the path and had no idea which way to go. It was freezing cold and I wasn’t confident that I would survive the storm, I was desperate to find my way to shelter.
At that stage in my life, I wouldn’t have called myself a Christian but out of desperation I prayed “God, if you’re real, help me!” Within minutes the visibility cleared and I saw a hut a few hundred metres away. I ran to it and sheltered overnight as the storm continued. The next morning I awoke to blue skies, a huge amount of fresh snow and looked out over the stunning Annapurna mountain range. I asked myself, “was this all a coincidence? The storm stopping, a hut being there, the particles that made up these mountains, life itself?” I found myself convinced that there had to be some sort of creator, an ultimate life source and I wanted to find out what.
The family that I was living with in Nepal were Hindu and Buddhist and I asked them to explain their views to me, it started a 2-year journey exploring major world views, leading me to study History and English at University and taking subjects in anthropology and world religions. When my History lecturer spoke with absolute conviction of the ‘historical Jesus’, I thought I should consider some of Jesus’ biggest claims.
In John 14:6 Jesus is recorded as saying
“I am the Way, the Truth and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”
For me, the evidence pointing to Jesus being who he says he is seemed overwhelming and as I watched and observed passionate Christians living their lives, they seemed full of joy, love, purpose and direction.
As we near Easter I invite everyone to consider Jesus’ offer that he can provide a way. A way that can guide us through tough times, that celebrates the good, that is full of love and joy. Jesus says in John 10:10 “I have come that you may have life and have it to the full.” If the story of Easter is true, there is a Jesus that loves so deeply that he laid down his life, so that we could know God and live lives to the full. My hope and prayer is that we could all live deeply satisfying lives, life to the full, that we could feel confident and purposeful in the way we live, knowing deep joy and love, rather than momentary happiness or sorrow.
God bless,
Dave Chilton