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Old Main - Eastern Illinois University

In 1980 I was working overtime in the Business Office for Eastern Illinois University. The building is known as “Old Main”;it looks like a giant Gothic castle made of large rough-hewn gray stones, with turrets, battlements, and towers; the windows are tall with pointed arches. It is quite an awesome sight.

All my co-workers had left hours earlier. There was plenty of work for me to do and I lost track of time. Before I knew it the sun had gone down. The room was huge, with extremely high ceilings. I felt so small in that room. It had served many functions over the years since it was built. At the time I was working there it was being used as the Business Office. I began to notice that the wind was starting to pick up; some of the tree branches were hitting against the windows. It was pitch black outside and had begun to storm. It was thundering and lightning, making the huge old castle seem like something out of a horror movie. I decided to go home ASAP. While I was preparing to go home I realized that I had a problem. The rule of the office was that the lights were never to be left on at night and since I was the last one there, I was required to turn them out.

Now here was the problem: the light switch was on one side of that huge room and the door was on the other side of the room. The thought of trying to find my way back across the room in the dark was terrifying to me. Feeling quite helpless and scared, I asked God to help me get through this dilemma. No sooner had I uttered the words until I noticed something which I had not seen  before. On one of the desks was a desk lamp! I then remembered that there were other desks with desk lamps in that huge office, so as I walked across the room to the light switch, I turned on each desk lamp that I passed by. When I reached the main switch I said another quick prayer, then hit the switch. BAM! It made a really loud noise and all the lights went out….except for the desk lamps! There was a lit path all the way across that room to the door. All I had to do was turn out each desk lamp as I passed by on my way to the door.

When I remember this experience, I am still amazed at how God provided the light for my path. If I had not asked God for help, would I have had the presence of mind to realize that the lamps were there? I don’t think so. My mind was frozen with fear. Through my prayer God relieved my fear, freeing up my mind to see that the solution was right there in front of me all along.

I say with Psalm 27:

“The Lord is my light and my salvation

Whom shall I fear, Whom shall I fear?

The Lord is my strength, the strength of my life

Of whom shall I be afraid?”