“The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” —John 1:5
Do you remember being a kid and being afraid of the dark?
The second the lights went out, suddenly my bedroom wasn’t just a bedroom anymore. My imagination would run wild, and every innocent shadow in the room seemed to become something I definitely did not want to meet.
So I would pull the covers over my head. All the way up.
Because obviously, that thin little blanket was going to protect me from whatever terrifying creature was lurking nearby.
And whatever you do, don’t peek out.
Because if I couldn’t see it, it couldn’t see me.
Makes perfect sense, right?
But I had a thought recently, aren’t we still doing some version of that as adults?
We may not be hiding underneath our blankets anymore—well, some of us might still be —but when life becomes scary, uncertain, or just a teensy bit overwhelming, our instinct can still be to hide.
We find ways to avoid what we’re afraid of. We keep ourselves busy. We distract ourselves. We overthink every possible outcome. Sometimes we convince ourselves everything is fine because admitting that we’re struggling feels easier than facing what’s actually going on.
“I’m fine. I’m totally fine. Everything is fine.”
Except sometimes it isn’t.
And pretending the darkness isn’t there doesn’t make it disappear.
Neither does staring at it.
Sometimes, we need to look up.
I remember being in a cave with Matt, my husband, where it was so dark we couldn’t see what was ahead of us. The only thing lighting our way was the small beam from his headlamp. It didn’t light up the entire cave or show us what was around the next turn. It simply gave us enough light to see where we were going.
And we kept moving.
We didn’t need to see the entire cave to take the next step. We just needed enough light for the part of the path we were on.
Isn’t that how faith can be?
We want God to turn on a giant spotlight and show us everything. We want to know how the situation will work out, when the answer will come, what’s waiting around the next corner, and whether everything is going to be okay.
But God doesn’t always give us the whole picture.
Sometimes He gives us enough light for the next step.
Elijah knew what it was like to find himself in a dark place, too. In 1 Kings 19, fear and exhaustion led him to a cave, where he had no idea what was coming next.
But God knew where Elijah was.
And God met him there.
God spoke to Elijah in that cave and reminded him that his story wasn’t over. There was still more ahead.
I think that’s something we forget when life gets difficult. We can become so focused on everything surrounding us that we forget to look up.
We look at the problem, the unanswered prayer, the circumstances we can’t change, and everything that seems to be going wrong. We think, I don’t know how I’m going to fix this.
And somehow, in the middle of all that looking, we forget to look at God.
How do we do that?
How do we become so consumed by what is happening in front of us that we forget about the One who is already there?
The Bible tells us:
“For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.” —2 Timothy 1:7
That doesn’t mean we will never feel afraid. It doesn’t mean there won’t be moments when our circumstances genuinely scare us or leave us wondering what comes next.
It means fear doesn’t have to be the voice we follow.
And when we turn our attention back to God, we won’t suddenly have all the answers. We may still be sitting in the middle of something we desperately wish would change. But we can begin to remember that we aren’t facing it alone.
John 1:5 says, “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.”
Notice that it says in the darkness.
The promise isn’t that we will never experience darkness. The promise is that darkness doesn’t have the final say.
Perhaps you’re in a dark place right now. You’re tired from carrying something for too long, afraid of what tomorrow might bring, or waiting on an answer that hasn’t come yet. You’re looking at your circumstances and wondering how any of it is going to work out.
You don’t have to pretend you’re not scared or that everything is okay when it isn’t.
But don’t let what you see around you keep you from looking above you.
Look up.
Lift your eyes toward the God who sees the whole road, even when you can only see what’s in front of you.
So, when fear tells you to pull the covers over your head, remember that you don’t have to hide from the darkness.
Look up.
There is light coming through.
And God is still there.
Take A Moment
1. What situation in your life feels dark or uncertain right now?
2. Are you trying to figure everything out yourself or are you allowing God to lead you through it?
Prayer
Lord,
Sometimes the darkness around us can make us afraid of what we can’t see. Help us remember that You are with us, even when we don’t understand what You’re doing.
Help us trust that Your light is greater than anything we may be facing.
And when someone else is walking through a dark season, help us be a light that points them back to You.
Amen.
