Light in the Darkest Night

Tom Elliot                                                       White Lake, On

      The night of August 20, 2009 is a night that Tom Elliott will never forget. Brewing outside was the worst storm to hit the Ottawa Valley in many years.
Inside, a storm of another sort was raging, as Tom was dealing with a personal crisis. The depression and anxiety that had plagued him all his life had dragged him into an all-time low.

      Tom, and Annie, his wife, had been married for thirty-three years but the depression, mood swings, and bipolar tendencies, along with other circumstances, had taken a toll on their marriage. They had recently separated, hoping for time to rebuild and restore their relationship.

      That evening, they met at their home in Kanata to discuss their situation. Their time together that evening, seemed to confirm in Tom’s mind that the separation might turn out to be more permanent than he had first thought.

      Tom lay down to sleep on the couch, but for some reason he felt driven to return to the cottage on White Lake where he had been living since the previous month. Annie tried to stop him from going to the lake so late at night and in such poor weather conditions.

      Tom felt compelled to make the trip and left anyways. He cried for the entire trip from Kanata to the house of Bud and Margaret Lindsay, where his boat was moored.

      Upon arriving, being in no state to discuss the situation, and not wishing to disturb the Lindsays at such a late hour, he started to walk down to his boat. The darkness was so overwhelming that Tom had to feel his way along with his hands to prevent himself from bumping into the trees that lined the path to the dock.

      As he shuffled along, he heard Margaret call out to him, “Tom, you can’t go out on the lake in this storm!”

      Tom only replied, “I will be okay.”

      Again, she cried out for him to take refuge in their house until the storm had passed.

      He just repeated, “It will be alright.” He took nothing with him, not even a flashlight. It was the lowest and darkest hour in Tom’s life and he didn’t care about any of the consequences.

      As he sped along the water in his boat, almost involuntarily he called out, “God, if you’re real, show me; now is the time!”

      Immediately, lightning flashed from cloud to cloud and to his left side there appeared an intense, white light that completely lit up the shoreline of the lake. The light traveled like a wave and came close to him with a brilliance and intensity that he had never seen before or since. He felt it pass through his body and he lost his sight and hearing for a time. Tom also felt a pushing sensation from within his chest. When his senses returned, he found that he was still piloting the boat along the water.

      The darkness of the night made the navigating difficult, so he was relieved to see the neighbour’s solar, patio lights showing him where he was. In his mind, he charted the distance to his dock and when he saw the white rod that he usually tied his boat to, he nosed the boat up to it and reached far over to tie the boat up. To his utter amazement, the rod wasn’t there and he plunged into the chilly water. Tom grabbed onto the boat and drifted until he felt the shoreline under his feet. He realized then, that he had actually been quite far from away where he had thought he was.

      After securing his boat, Tom went inside the cottage, changed into dry pyjamas, and sat on the porch amazed, and completely overwhelmed, as he reflected on all the experiences of the evening. It was now 11:00 pm, and he continued to be lost in the thought that he had cried out to God in desperation, and the intense light of His presence had come immediately afterwards.

      So much happened during that encounter, that it would be quite a few days before he would gain even a glimmer of understanding, of all that God had done in those few moments in the brightness of His presence.

      All his fear was gone and he couldn’t cry another tear but could only sense overwhelming peace. He knew that everything was going to be all right.

      Around 4:00 am he decided that he must go and tell Annie what had happened, so he made a return trip to Ottawa, totally oblivious as to what the weather was doing. When he reached the city, he called his wife and asked if he could come and see her at her new apartment.

       Just a few blocks before he arrived, Tom stopped at a traffic light and saw a sign on a church lawn. The sign said, “It’s never too late to be the person you were always meant to be.” Author’s name: George Elliott.

       “It could only be another sign from God,” he thought.

       When Tom arrived at Annie’s place, he was visibly trembling as he told her all about it. Before he began, he said, “I am going to tell you something and you must promise me two things: one, you will never tell this to anyone and two, you will not send me to the loony bin.”

      As he was recounting the evening’s events, he shared that, at first, he thought he had been struck by lightning, died, and came back to life, but upon checking his body, they quickly surmised that it wasn’t lighting that had struck him, but the light of God! A phone call to Margaret Lindsay, later in the day, confirmed that there had been no chain-lightning the night before, so Tom shared his experiences with her and proclaimed, “It was God. There really is a God! He is real!”

      This was an incredible conclusion for Tom to reach, as he was a non-believer—not just a fencesitter but far beyond the fence, the field, and well into the bush. Many people had witnessed to him over the past thirty years, and his response had always been the same; the only way he would believe, was for God to personally show up. His request was granted that night.

      On Sunday, Tom was eager to attend church with Annie. In his mind, this would be a litmus test. His past attendance at any church service had resulted in him being very critical and disbelieving. The church where Annie attended was a very passionate and lively one, with many expressions of adoration to the Lord.       

      As they walked up to the church, they encountered a family with four small children. Annie knew the family well and began talking to them. Unexpectedly, Tom felt a squeezing sensation on his legs. Looking down, he saw their three-year-old son hugging him with all his might, with the most beautiful smile on his face. Later, Tom realized that this was his welcome to his new church. “It was the best welcome I could have ever received,” he said. “Since that time, I have seen him three times and he just hides his head and won’t look at me at all because he’s so shy.”

      As for what has changed in his life, Tom says “everything” has changed.

      “Our marriage is just the greatest now. I used to be so driven in my business that sometimes I’d stay up for two or three days to finish projects, but I now accomplish the same thing by working reasonable hours. I am so mellowed out. I have a peace and joy that I have never known. Instead of getting upset, I just say, ‘Whatever.’ The turmoil that tormented me all of my life is gone.”

      “There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that this was an act of God. Eight medications, every day, for over twenty-five years, could not accomplish what this one encounter with God did. It was, as if I had spiritual surgery and the demon that had plagued me all my life has been removed. It’s beyond incredible!” 

      “I am truly amazed and still ask, ‘Why Me?’ Why did it take so long for God to intervene in my life? I can’t answer these and many other questions, but I know that my experience was real and there is a God.”

      “I was at the lowest point in my life. I asked and I received. I was saved, healed, delivered, and baptized in one act from God. Now, I am on the right side of the fence and can only hope that sharing this experience will encourage people to realize there is hope, to never give up, and more importantly, that there is a God.”

      “If you had told me a story like this on August 19, I would have laughed, been very critical and cynical. I would probably have suggested a one-way trip to the loony bin was in order and may have even given you the ticket.”

       “God has put a new song in my heart. Today, I sing over and over again the words of the beautiful hymn that I find so true of my life and experience with God.” 

                       Amazing grace how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me, I once was lost but now am found was blind but now I see.

                       My chains are gone! I’ve been set free! My God, my Saviour has ransomed me! And like a flood His mercy flows. Unending love, AMAZING GRACE!

          Tom once lived in darkness, but now he lives in glorious light!