Monster in the dark


     October monsters are everywhere since Halloween is only a few days away. Neighbors decorate with ghouls and goblins, ghosts and giant spiders! As a kid my brother and I decided to use the ladder from our bunk beds to make a monster in our room. We propped it up on a chair and then began to dress it with an old shirt, pants and even put shoes and a hat on it. It didn’t look scary at all that is until we decided to turn off the lights.

     In the dimly lit room it looked like some creepy old man standing in the middle of our bedroom. We went back and forth turning the lights on and off. On when we got too scared and off when we were ready for some more adrenaline! Kids do the craziest things! In the end we decided to quickly turn the light on and together rushed and tackled our creation to the ground amid laughs and screams of delight!

     In today’s verse we are told that God is our light and our salvation so we have nothing to fear. Regardless if the monsters around us are real or imagined all we have to do is turn on the light of God’s love. As adults now we face the very real anxiety of health issues, job layoffs, bouts of depression and fear. Some we made ourselves and others we have no control over.

     Here’s the good news in all of this. With the Lord by our side we can overcome any villain that may come against us. It turns out they don’t stand a chance against us when we turn on the lights! That old ladder monster wasn’t scary in the light because we could clearly see it was fake. It was only the darkness that gave it power to frighten. Turn on the light!

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