“Again Jesus spoke to them, saying,
“I am the light of the world.
Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness,
but will have the light of life.”
– John 8:12
Did you dread the dark as a child?? I did. I hated the dark . . . .
What is it about the dark that we find fearful?? There are layers of answers, but some of them, I believe, is that we often fear what we cannot see and we are scared of what the dark can hide. As a child, the imagination of what COULD be hiding in the dark is what I feared most (no matter how unreasonable it sounded, there could be a monster under the bed, a robber downstairs, or a ghost in the closet. . . you know how it goes)
While I am no longer a little girl afraid of the dark, I still find myself fearful of what I cannot see, what could be hiding, and what could be.
In the light we are able to see what IS, what is NOT, and things can be easily identified. But at night?? We are no longer able to distinguish or discern because the darkness blinds our eyes and distorts our ability to judge.
It is the same spiritually — in the Bible, God speaks to us over and over about the effects of sin, living in this dark world, and the contrast between light and darkness.
Before sin, there was nothing to fear in the darkness, but when sin entered so did spiritual death and blindness. We are born into sin and enter a world that is dark and broken because of sin.
What happens as we grow in this sinful world? We discover that the darkness that we once feared can be used as a cover to hide what we do not want to be known. We become comfortable in the darkness. God says that what is done in darkness is fruitless and that people love the darkness over the light:
“Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness,
but rather expose them.”
– Ephesians 5:11
“And this is the condemnation,
that the Light has come into the world,
& men loved darkness rather than light,
because their deeds were evil.”
– John 3:19
When we recognize our spiritual darkness, acknowledge and confess our sin, and accept Jesus’ death as the sacrifice for our sin we are moved from the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of light. Jesus came, lived a perfect life, died, and rose again so we could be saved from the darkness of sin and death. That good news will never grow old!!!
“He has delivered us from the power of darkness
& conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love”
– Colossians 1:13
“for at one time you were darkness,
but now you are light in the Lord.
Walk as children of light“
– Ephesians 5:11
“The night is far spent, the day is at hand.
Therefore let us cast off the works of darkness,
and let us put on the armor of light.”
– Romans 13:12
To me, one of the most beautiful and comforting names that Jesus calls Himself is: “THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD” (John 9:5 & 18:12)
That means there is nothing to fear in Jesus.
“The Lord is my helper; I will not fear…” Hebrews 13:6
He has nothing to hide.
“He [Jesus] is the image of the invisible God” Colossians 1:15
“Anyone who has seen Me [Jesus] has seen the Father.” John 14:9
He can be fully trusted.
“God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all.” 1 John 1:5
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding” Proverbs 3:5
While there are things that I may never understand because His ways and thoughts are higher (Isaiah 55:8-9), I know that I can trust Him because He sees what I cannot and He knows what I do not know.
The Bible says that we walk by FAITH and not by sight (2 Corinthians 5:7) — so we cannot be dependent on our eyes or reasoning to determine where the Lord is guiding and leading. We must depend on Him, follow Him, and trust Him by faith.
Even while all around us is darkness, and we may not be able see where the next step will lead, we do not have to stumble in the darkness, full of fear, because He is the light.
I do not have to know the way,
because I’m following THE ONE who DOES.
When a child is fearful, the one thing that can immediately dispel any worry is the presence of a parent, grandparent, or someone trusted. The security of having someone by their side, protecting them, and comforting them far outweighs what was previously causing fear, even if the darkness doesn’t change. Jesus is with you and He has promised to never leave or forsake you. (Hebrews 13:5)
He is our light in this dark world.
He is the One we can trust when we can’t see the way.
He is the One we can follow because He knows the way.
He is the One who will walk with you through the dark.
Let Him dispel your fear with His marvelous light.
“You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation,
God’s own people, in order that you may proclaim the mighty acts
of Him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light”
– 1 Peter 2:9
“The light shines in the darkness,
and the darkness has not overcome it.”
– 1 John 1:5
“For you are all children of light, children of the day.
We are not of the night or of the darkness.”
– 1 Thessalonians 5:5
“Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above,
coming down from the Father of lights,
with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.”
– James 1:7
“I have come as a light into the world,
that whoever believes in Me should not abide in darkness.”
John 12:46
And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.
And God saw that the light was good,
– Genesis 1:3