When the Dark Feels Scary

Devotional

The light goes off and your room turns into a different room.

The same room. The same stuff. But now the jacket on your chair looks like a person standing there. A branch hits the window and your heart starts going fast. You pull the blanket up higher.

First thing I want you to know: being scared of the dark doesn't mean something is wrong with you. Almost everybody has felt this. Grown-ups too. We just don't say it out loud as much.

King David felt it, and he fought a lion and a bear. Here's what he wrote:

"The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear?"

Notice he didn't say "I never get scared." He asked a question. He was really saying: if God is my light, then who out there is big enough to actually hurt me?

David didn't get brave by being tough. He got brave by remembering who God is.

Now think about the word light for a second.

When you flip on a lamp in a dark room, what does the dark do? It doesn't fight. It doesn't argue with you. It just leaves. Light always wins that one. Every time.

And God doesn't carry a light. He is the light. David wrote it this way: "Even the darkness is not dark to you; the night is bright as the day."

Read that again. The dark that feels so big to you right now? God can see through all of it. He isn't squinting. He isn't confused about what's in your room. To him your room at midnight looks the same as your room at noon.

So what do you do when you're scared anyway?

David told us that too: "When I am afraid, I put my trust in you."

Look at the word "when." Not if. He knew the scared feeling was going to come. He just decided ahead of time what he'd do with it. He'd talk to God.

And here's the best part.

A long time after David wrote that, Jesus stood in front of a crowd and said, "I am the light of the world."

Do you see what he did there? He was saying: that light David kept writing about? That's me.

And Jesus proved it. He went into the darkest thing there is. He died on a cross. And three days later he walked out of the grave alive. There's no dark anywhere that could hold him down.

So the dark isn't the last word. Not on your nights. Not on anything.

God says, "Fear not, for I am with you... I will uphold you with my righteous right hand." He's not watching from far away. He's holding you up.

So tonight, if it feels scary, just tell him. You can say it out loud, quiet, in your bed.

"God, I'm scared. I'm trusting you."

You don't have to pretend you're brave. You just have to know who's in the room.

He made the stars. He's right there.

And he's not going anywhere.