Daily Wisdom 06-23-2001 Afraid of the Dark?

In order to get to church I must walk up the stretch of road our house is on, out to the basketball court on the main road, turn right at the corner and go down to the junction, then left onto one of the main roads leading into/out of town, then around a bend, a left turn into a small community, then a right, then finally I'm there.I get a little scared each time I have to do this when it's a night service, and tonight I was especially scared. From the house next door to the first corner was drenched in darkness . No street light is on that stretch of road which takes about five minutes to traverse, and tonight, it seemed much darker than before.

It is a darkness which seems so thick you could cut it with a knife. It looked heavy, forbidding. My mind started playing tricks thinking of shadows, monsters and such, but worst of all - the neighbor's dogs. I almost ran back into the house thereby canceling my plans for Bible Study. But then I looked up the road again and realized that, although i was scared, I should not forget that I had traversed that area many times before without any harm. Also, there, at the end of the road, shone the lights to the basketball court.So I started out. One step, then two. This darkness which seemed so forbidding in the beginning seemed to actually be getting brighter the further I walked into it. I could see where I was stepping and pretty soon I looked back and realized I had just walked through that darkness which had seemed so unconquerable at first.

Then it hit me! That's what my life has been like. There have been through many dark periods when I thought I wouldn't make it, and even dared not walk through them, but when I did, I found that they weren't as terrible as they seemed, and that, though it may be dark, yet there is still some light, some hope. If you just keep on walking faithfully, soon you'll reach the light at the end of the darkness and, in your victory, you can look back at what you just came through. Then you will smile and know that the next time you face a situation (or a dark road), you've been through it (or something similar) before.

In our lives, we do run into dark periods but there is a Light at the end of the darkness. He knows you can make it through and he's standing with arms open wide waiting for you. Can you hear him? he's cheering you on, telling you you can make it! He says "Be not afraid of the darkness! I am here."

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