ARE YOU AFRAID OF THE DARK?

Are you Afraid of the Dark was a show I enjoyed watching as a kid on nickelodeon. I will not forget the teenagers on the show gathered around a campfire telling scary stories and seeing the story come alive through actors on the screen. It was a pretty cool show and I like to say it was the kid version of Tales from the Crypt or similar to another Goosebumps tv show. Before the story was told by one of the teenagers, they would always have the bag of midnight dust and would throw it in the fire after they said the title of the story but they always started out saying “Submitted for the approval of the midnight society, I call this story…….” then the dust would be thrown in the fire and the title would magically appear on the screen. Looking back now as an adult, the title of this show makes sense to attract kids to watch it because as kids, it seems one of the biggest fears we have is darkness until we get to a certain age where darkness doesn’t seem that bad anymore. Saying that the fear of darkness doesn’t control your life anymore is wonderful but it could also mean that we are still living in the dark but we are so used to it that we have adjusted our eyes to focus on things that are still out of focus. I am still drawn to the saying of how each story had to be approved by the other teens in order for them to tell it. God wants our submission too and he has already approved us in telling his story to others.

Everyone seems to at least have one fear as a child and as an adult today but one of most important fears to stay away from is the fear of darkness because it can have a big affect on our spiritual walk with God. As a kid, and before knowing God, I walked with fear in the dark not knowing that there was always light near me. Now that I am a Christian and a parent and a part of youth ministry for over 20 years now, I can talk about not being afraid of the dark anymore and let others know that in order to get over the darkness of this world, Jesus, who is the light of the world, has to guide you through it. If you do not have a light in the darkness you will begin to stumble and sometimes fall but with the light to guide us, it is a lot easier to stay upright and know where to go (John 11:10). Just like a ship out in the sea needs a light house to guide it away from the trouble of the rocks, we as believers also need light to prevent us from crashing. We also need to be like the light house as well in order to help those from crashing so others will be able to be guided by the light and see that Jesus is the light in all of us.

Too many times we sit in the darkness and try to adjust our eyes just enough for us to see so we can guide ourselves out of that darkness alone but when we have light in front of us it makes it a lot easier and we are able to focus more clearer to the direction we need to go. You may be that person right now reading this and saying to yourself that you are too far gone to be able to get out of this darkness and Jesus doesn’t want to bother in helping me and guiding me out with His light. Maybe the real issue is that you don’t want to get out of the darkness because you think you can see enough without the light, but I want to tell you that there is hope for you and you can accept that light to guide you out of that darkness because it is always there for you.

Jesus tells us in John 8:12 that “If anyone follows Him who is the light, shall never walk in darkness, but shall always have the light of life.” See, that hope always has and always will be Jesus for your life, and the purposeof it to be given to Him so He can direct your path so you won’t have to be afraid of what you can’t see in this dark journey. Let me put it another way, my friends and I growing up loved playing flashlight tag where the person that had to find others was given a flashlight and when they found someone, they had to shine the light and say their name in order for that person who was found to be it before reaching the safe zone. Jesus who is the light has already shined His light on you and He also already knows your name so why would it make any sense to play flashlight tag without using a light? How are you also able to shine a light on someone in the dark without a flashlight ? Its impossible. Having a light makes sense to find others in the darkness.

As a believer, having that light always helps me show others that they do not have to live in darkness anymore and that they will never be perfect because I am far from perfection as well but I serve a perfect God. Sometimes our lights tend to lose power because we haven’t stayed charged up enough for Jesus and just like a battery that goes in the flashlight, we can lose the brightness of that light if we don’t take the time to recharge the power (attend church, pray, read scripture, etc.) We have to continue to make sure that the light is always shining as bright as it can be for others to see. If you are wanting to know how to become the light for others to see by knowing the light of the world and to get out of the darkness you are in, all you have to do is trust Jesus to guide you and know that he died for you and that he also resurrected in order to give you an eternal home with Him one day. I pray that this verse will speak to you today and that it will come true for your life. Ephesians 5:8, “For you were sometimes darkness, but now you are light in the Lord: walk as children of light.”

Now is not the time to be afraid of the darkness around us and allowing it to control us but now is the time to be the light this dark world desperately needs. May God strengthen you today to be that light for all to see. Amen.