"He discovereth deep things out of darkness, and bringeth out to light the shadow of death."
Job 12:22
This makes me wonder how much of our fear is based in the unknown. When God brings everything to light, and we really understand it, will we still be afraid? Maybe some, but it seems like to me that all the things that we are afraid of are so much worse because they are unknown... and in the light, they will seem a lot less scary.
We talk ourselves into fear a lot. An unknown sound, or an unfamiliar situation can throw us off, just like me going down to the basement in my childhood home. If the switch wasn't turned the right way, you would have to walk in the dark down the hall till you got to the other light switch, and sometimes it freaked me out. I remember one night hearing something that I somehow just knew wasn't normal, and feeling frozen there in the dark, unable to move or proceed for a very long time... just standing there, petrified. All because it was dark and I couldn't see what was making the noise. A little light would have make all the difference. And so it is in life I think. Maybe we grow out of some of that fear, but we still worry about the unknown. We don't know what is going to happen, and we certainly can't control it, and sometimes that can freak us out. We don't understand why things happen the way they do, and it feels like we're in the dark, afraid of something unspeakable in the dark. Later, sometimes, we find out why. Why the warning, or the delay, or the loss of the job, or the failure of the relationship. We find out that God had something else in store... something better that helped someone else, or put us in a position to progress further on our journey. The light comes on, and we're no longer afraid.
Still, though, there are times that we are trapped there in the darkness for a long time, paralyzed and afraid. Even if we know that someday we won't be there anymore, it is still a hard place to be while it is happening. And if we're in one of those spots, let's try to remember the Lord. God can bring light anywhere... the deepest, blackest hole, and he can even shed light on the shadow of death... making it no longer scary. Let's turn to God in our fear and our darkness and pray for light. Literally or figuratively, God will be there for us, to brighten our path and to lead us out of fear and confusion and pain into understanding, acceptance, and peace.
Job 12:22
This makes me wonder how much of our fear is based in the unknown. When God brings everything to light, and we really understand it, will we still be afraid? Maybe some, but it seems like to me that all the things that we are afraid of are so much worse because they are unknown... and in the light, they will seem a lot less scary.
We talk ourselves into fear a lot. An unknown sound, or an unfamiliar situation can throw us off, just like me going down to the basement in my childhood home. If the switch wasn't turned the right way, you would have to walk in the dark down the hall till you got to the other light switch, and sometimes it freaked me out. I remember one night hearing something that I somehow just knew wasn't normal, and feeling frozen there in the dark, unable to move or proceed for a very long time... just standing there, petrified. All because it was dark and I couldn't see what was making the noise. A little light would have make all the difference. And so it is in life I think. Maybe we grow out of some of that fear, but we still worry about the unknown. We don't know what is going to happen, and we certainly can't control it, and sometimes that can freak us out. We don't understand why things happen the way they do, and it feels like we're in the dark, afraid of something unspeakable in the dark. Later, sometimes, we find out why. Why the warning, or the delay, or the loss of the job, or the failure of the relationship. We find out that God had something else in store... something better that helped someone else, or put us in a position to progress further on our journey. The light comes on, and we're no longer afraid.
Still, though, there are times that we are trapped there in the darkness for a long time, paralyzed and afraid. Even if we know that someday we won't be there anymore, it is still a hard place to be while it is happening. And if we're in one of those spots, let's try to remember the Lord. God can bring light anywhere... the deepest, blackest hole, and he can even shed light on the shadow of death... making it no longer scary. Let's turn to God in our fear and our darkness and pray for light. Literally or figuratively, God will be there for us, to brighten our path and to lead us out of fear and confusion and pain into understanding, acceptance, and peace.
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