When I was a child I remember occasions when I was the last one to go to bed. Being last required me to turn out the downstairs lights and climb the darkened stairs toward the dim hallway light at the top. Our stairs made a turn part way up and I still remember exactly how I felt as I prepared to make the climb. I would reach for the light switch at the bottom of the stairs as my feet were already moving up the first few steps. I would hit that switch and dash up the stairs like my tail was on fire. I’d make that turn and see the light at the top and know I was safe.
Even as an adult, when my boys were small and my husband was traveling for work, I would lock the doors at night and head for the stairs with that same sense of dread as I flipped the switch at the bottom of the steps. I really wasn’t afraid of the dark by this time. It was more about the responsibility I felt to protect my family against the unknown while my husband was away. It always seems that everything hard is magnified at night.
When Moses lead the Israelites out of Egypt they were guided by a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. God never left them in the dark. It was all around them but they always had His light. The night they arrived at the Red Sea they set up camp and the pillar that had been leading them moved behind them. It stood in between the Israelites and the Egyptians. Then God worked all night to clear a path of escape through the sea for His people while His light held back the enemy. (Exodus 13-14)
We need not fear the darkness. God’s light is always there. Sometimes leading us and sometimes standing between us and the enemy that is pursuing us. We can walk confidently toward and through the darkest times knowing God’s light shines to show us the way and to keep us safe.
God doesn’t have to wait till morning to be able to see what He’s doing. He works just fine in the dark.
“Even the darkness is not dark to you; the night is bright as the day, for darkness is as light with you.” – Psalm 139:12 (ESV)
“Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, ‘I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.'” – John 8:12(ESV)