Scared of the Dark

 As I was finishing up yesterday's devotion, I wanted to say that God isn't scared of the dark. I stopped myself as I knew I'd get all ramped up and just keep on writing. But my mind stayed on that thought for a large part of the day. I thought about how He is not afraid to meet us in the dark, hidden parts of our hearts and minds. Nothing gets too ugly for Him! 

Our Bible heroes from yesterday were Paul and Silas, who had been put in prison for preaching the gospel. God wasn't afraid to show up and show out for them there, no matter how dark it must have been when they chose to start singing at midnight. 

From there, my mind went to so many stories where God wasn't afraid of the dark. I thought about Joseph sitting in prison for something he didn't even do. God was there. I thought about Daniel being thrown into the lion's den, where he spent all night. When the king opened the mouth of the den in the morning and asked if he was okay and if his God had saved him. What was Daniel's answer? Daniel reported to the king that God had sent an angel to shut the mouths of the lions. God wasn't afraid of the deep, dark den of lions. He was there with Daniel.

I thought about Job who didn't experience a physically dark space, but he faced a dark season of his life. God didn't abandon Job, either, even though we may never understand why all of it went down like it did. God spoke to Job. In fact, Job 38 and 39 contain one of my favorite passages where the Creator describes His own masterpiece of creation... I love it - and He shared it with Job during a very dark time.

I also thought about Jonah, who ended up in the belly of a whale due to his own stubbornness and rebellion. But God still met him in the belly of the whale He created to swallow him. God was there, and as soon as Jonah called out to God, He answered.

God's not afraid of the dark, even if it's a space in my mind due to trauma, stress, or abuse. Caregiving can wreak havoc on the emotional and mental health of the caregiver, but God's not scared to show up for us. I love that. Personally, probably much like many of you, I've walked through some very dark caregiving days. But God has always met us there, even when we were not aware of His presence or were too mad to acknowledge it. (smile, we've all been there, haven't we?)

Today, I will remind myself that God's not scared of my scary places. He isn't going to run and hide from all the crazy thoughts that run through my head, although He might roll His eyes a little bit. Lol. My thoughts will be on how my personal darkness doesn't mean it's dark for God. He's not scared, and He is so willing to sit with me in it. I will remind myself to be thankful in the situation because God is in it with me, and He's not impatient. He's her,e just waiting on me to wait on Him to trust Him for one more day. That's my plan for today - how about you?

Check out one of my latest releases. (I have a new one coming next month, so stay tuned!) Peace Out! It's in the Bible is a 31-day devotional that is focused on letting God's peace reign in our hearts - no matter what. You can get the eBook from my shop at Buy Me A Coffee. Or the print and kindle versions are available in my Amazon Shop.