A story of God’s presence in darkness.

When I was a child, I received a bookmark as an award, probably for Sunday school attendance. The bookmark had an artist’s rendering of the face of Jesus, and below the picture was a cross that glowed in the dark. I pinned it to my bedroom wall.

Each day, the cross would absorb sunlight through the window, and at night, when various shadows merged into deep darkness, the cross would shine. At night I couldn’t see the reassuring face of Jesus, but because I could see the cross, I knew God was near.

Often, when the visits of night-time demons froze me in fear, my eyes would search for the cross on the wall, but even looking directly to where I knew it was, I could not see the glow. Yet when I bravely looked deep into the dark, the cross would shine in my peripheral vision. God had not abandoned me, though it was sometimes difficult to see His face. My childhood nights did not change; they remained dark, scary, and confusing, but God was present and that made all the difference.

How like God – when we search our circumstances, expecting to see Him, we are sometimes disappointed that we cannot readily identify His face. Yet as we trust in the salvation provided by Christ, as we wait in faith, as we face our fears and uncomfortable circumstances, God’s love shines through the gloom to assure us of His presence.

Fear not the dark times. God is faithful. God is present.