Devotion 4 – Hope in the Darkness
“Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my salvation” Psalm 42:5 ESV
“But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope: The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, His mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.” Lamentations 3:21-23 ESV
As a child, I was afraid of the dark. When the bedroom light went off and I couldn’t even see my hand in front of my face, my imagination would begin to run wild. Fear would run its tendrils down my back as I realized my mother had forgotten to close the closet door. As my
eyes adjusted to the dark, I could just make out shapes and outlines in that closet that could be a wild beast ready to attack me! The nightlight soon became my bedtime necessity, my faithful friend. It pushed back the darkness and kept my fears at bay. As long as that nightlight was on, I knew that no monster would brave the light to come attack me.
Hope is our nightlight in the darkest nights of our lives. When fear threatens to swallow us up, or depression freezes our very will to move, hope is what gives us the strength to keep fighting. Without hope, we would surrender. Without hope we would sink deep into that
horrible pit of despair. So, what do we hope in? Or rather, who? The scriptures point to our source of hope repeatedly. Our hope is in the faithfulness, the goodness, the love and the power of our God. As we read the Word of God, the Holy Spirit reveals the character of God and the promises of God. As we meditate on the scriptures we connect the words in them to our own lives.
About twelve years ago, the Holy Spirit prompted me to begin writing down my favorite scriptures in a journal. I started with searching the Psalms and Proverbs. Then I moved on to Isaiah and Jeremiah. Later, I pulled favorites from Romans and the Gospels. Soon, my
journal was filled with scriptures, and I began to memorize them. That was a year of renewal for me. I had discarded the habit of memorizing scriptures that my Sunday School days had encouraged. I had placed little value on spending time in the word and in prayer. But that year,
I began to cherish my little book of scriptures.
Little did I know that God was preparing me. He was providing a lighthouse to guide my ship to shore through the storm. Eleven years ago, my son descended into the turmoil of mental illness: trapped in hours of OCD compulsions, overwhelmed by panic attacks and social
anxiety, he struggled to make it through each day. Later, he turned to drugs to escape the daily struggle. My husband and I spiraled into fear-based reactions and desperation. Through it all, the Word of God became a beacon of hope and a rope that tethered me to a rock – a firm foundation. I spoke aloud the scriptures that I had memorized to remind me not to fear, to remind me of God’s faithfulness, to remind me of his power and strength and his good will towards me and my family.
What are you facing today? How is the darkness threatening to engulf you? We all must face the night, but the night does not overcome. Hope wins. Find your little lights of hope in the scriptures and place them around your home: on your walls, on your bathroom mirror, beside
your bed, on your fridge. Speak them aloud and you will push back the darkness. “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” John 1:5 NIV