only in Jesus can darkness be as light to you, and checking for monsters under the bed.....
One of my favorite chapters of the bible is Psalm 139 for many reasons. I have been considering verse 11 for a few days now. It says this: If I say, "Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me," even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you.
Often, we feel afraid of the dark. As children, the darkness brings thoughts of monsters and insecurities and the unknown. We need to check under the bed, in the closets, behind shadows.....and it takes a lot to convince a child that they are safe in the dark. Some children are not safe in the dark.
Darkness lived in my children's elementary school for years and years. A teacher was doing horrible and subtle and insidious things to children and no one knew it. The boys were unable to find a voice to stop it. It went on far too long until one brave child told what had happened that day. It started a snowball effect of revelation and light-bearing to something that had been kept in the dark for years.
The spiritual darkness that this was shrouded in is almost suffocating to me. It is layered, it is in the shadows, and it is strong. The influence that this dark sin is capable of in young children is staggering. The potential for future harm to their growth and development.......causes me to check under the bed and in the closet and behind the shadows every day. Evil is real. The devil is at work. every day. all day long. His intention is to steal and to kill and to destroy, but Jesus told us that He came to bring life....and light. Jesus used a brave young boy to shine light on this darkness and to call it out. That particular darkness doesn't live in our school anymore.
For now, in the form of their former teacher, that darkness is in jail, facing many charges of wrongdoing. We are hoping and praying that justice will be served in this. Please pray with us, that it can be so, because these children need to see that wrong things get punished. And brave truth is rewarded. And healing can come when light shines in the darkness.
I have asked the Lord often, why this had to happen. I have cried and yelled and begged him to explain it. He keeps showing me that darkness is as light to him....it shines the same as the light of day. He can handle the dark and the light. He is not afraid of the dark. He has control. Of both.
He also has control of this awful thing we are dealing with in our little Christian school. He has control over how long it happened and when and why it stopped. He doesn't have to explain Himself to me, no matter how many prayers I have cried and yelled at him. He is Sovereign God. He gets to be in charge. He doesn't even need to check under the bed or in the closet or behind the shadows. He knows what is there. ( and he is NOT afraid.)
As we battle through this hard thing and face possible courtrooms and trials and news attention, we can battle with the One who is light and truth and justice. Some days will be harder than others.....and we don't face those days alone. We face them together, standing behind the One True Beacon of Light that will always call out of the darkness what can not stay a secret.
Please do pray for us, and for our school, and for the families affected, for the legal system to do its job and for justice and light to prevail. We need all of it.
Often, we feel afraid of the dark. As children, the darkness brings thoughts of monsters and insecurities and the unknown. We need to check under the bed, in the closets, behind shadows.....and it takes a lot to convince a child that they are safe in the dark. Some children are not safe in the dark.
Darkness lived in my children's elementary school for years and years. A teacher was doing horrible and subtle and insidious things to children and no one knew it. The boys were unable to find a voice to stop it. It went on far too long until one brave child told what had happened that day. It started a snowball effect of revelation and light-bearing to something that had been kept in the dark for years.
The spiritual darkness that this was shrouded in is almost suffocating to me. It is layered, it is in the shadows, and it is strong. The influence that this dark sin is capable of in young children is staggering. The potential for future harm to their growth and development.......causes me to check under the bed and in the closet and behind the shadows every day. Evil is real. The devil is at work. every day. all day long. His intention is to steal and to kill and to destroy, but Jesus told us that He came to bring life....and light. Jesus used a brave young boy to shine light on this darkness and to call it out. That particular darkness doesn't live in our school anymore.
For now, in the form of their former teacher, that darkness is in jail, facing many charges of wrongdoing. We are hoping and praying that justice will be served in this. Please pray with us, that it can be so, because these children need to see that wrong things get punished. And brave truth is rewarded. And healing can come when light shines in the darkness.
I have asked the Lord often, why this had to happen. I have cried and yelled and begged him to explain it. He keeps showing me that darkness is as light to him....it shines the same as the light of day. He can handle the dark and the light. He is not afraid of the dark. He has control. Of both.
He also has control of this awful thing we are dealing with in our little Christian school. He has control over how long it happened and when and why it stopped. He doesn't have to explain Himself to me, no matter how many prayers I have cried and yelled at him. He is Sovereign God. He gets to be in charge. He doesn't even need to check under the bed or in the closet or behind the shadows. He knows what is there. ( and he is NOT afraid.)
As we battle through this hard thing and face possible courtrooms and trials and news attention, we can battle with the One who is light and truth and justice. Some days will be harder than others.....and we don't face those days alone. We face them together, standing behind the One True Beacon of Light that will always call out of the darkness what can not stay a secret.
Please do pray for us, and for our school, and for the families affected, for the legal system to do its job and for justice and light to prevail. We need all of it.
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