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“If I say, Surely the darkness shall cover me; even the night shall be light about me. Yea, the darkness hideth not from thee; but the night shineth as the day: the darkness and the light are both alike to thee.” (Psalm 139:11-12)

Are you afraid of the dark? It is easy to feel afraid at night, isn’t it? The dark makes everything look a little bit different. When Eileen was a little girl, she used to worry that there was a robber or maybe even a bear hiding in her closet. Eileen sometimes felt afraid that her toys would come to life after she went to sleep! Things that she and her family would laugh about during the day would start to seem very real and frightening when the sun went down and things got dark.

God is not afraid of the dark. These verses from Psalm 139 tell us that He can see just as well in the dark as He can in the light! In fact, night is just as bright as day to Him. Nothing can be hidden from Him, not even in the darkest dark. And that includes you!

Did you know that fear is a sin? God does not want His children to be controlled by fear (Romans 8:15; 2 Timothy 1:7). Fear takes our minds off the powerful, loving God who is greater than anything that could ever hurt us. If you are God’s child, you could trust Him to take care of you, even if there really were a robber or a bear in your room!

Next time you get ready to go to sleep, ask your mom, dad, brother, or sister to read Psalm 139 to you right before the light goes out. Then lie there and think about what it says. God is with you all the time. He is with you in the dark. He sees you. He knows your fears. He wants you to turn away from your fears and think about Him. He wants you to learn to trust Him–even in the dark.

God sees you and takes care of you in the dark.

My Response:
» Am I trusting God to take care of me when I lie down to sleep at night?
» When I do feel afraid, what are some ways I can remind myself of God’s watchful care over me?

“And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him. For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.” (Hebrews 12:5-6)

“Susan!” yelled Grandpa from where he stood at the living room window. “The kids are outside playing with matches!”

Willy and Ellie heard him yell, but they did not have enough time to clean up the mess before Mom rushed outside to where they’d been hunched over the pile of kindling and matches.

“William! Ellen! What are you doing? You know you’re not supposed to play with fire!”

A little embarrassed, they scattered the little pile and handed Mom the matches.

“We learned safety rules, Mom. We were being responsible. I’m ten years old!” Willy felt like maybe it should not be that big a deal. He wasn’t a baby. He even helped Grandpa with the fireplace sometimes, pumping the bellows and poking the logs. He had carried his fair share of firewood from the general store. Surely he was old enough to be able to build a little fire if he was careful about it.

“It was sort of an experiment,” Ellie tried to explain. “It didn’t work in the basement so we came outside.”

“The basement? Where in the basement?” Mom asked.

“We weren’t doing fires in the basement, really. We were just melting little caves in the styrofoam panels in the basement bathroom,” said Willy. “But there’s more oxygen out here, and oxygen helps you build real fires. We were going to make a little campfire with two sticks like Boy Scouts do, but the sticks wouldn’t light no matter how fast we rubbed them together, so we thought matches would help.”

But there was no more talking then. Mom marched them over to the trash burning barrel and said, “Wait here.” She left for a moment and came back with her arms full of styrofoam paneling from the new bathroom project Grandpa had been working on.

“I saw the little holes you melted in the panels down there,” she said. “We all need to thank God for protecting you.” She dumped the styrofoam into the barrel and stood back, opening a matchbook. “I want you to both to see something.”

She lit one match and dropped it into the barrel of styrofoam. Willie rolled his eyes. He did not know what Mom was so worried and upset about.

Suddenly, flames sprang up high and they all three had to step back from the barrel because the heat was so great. In a minute or so, all the styrofoam (and everything else in the barrel) was gone. And Willie wasn’t rolling his eyes anymore.

Mom got down so that her face was even with theirs. “Styrofoam is extremely flammable,” she said. “That means that you came very close to burning down our whole house.”

Ellie was sobbing, and tears were even leaking out of Willy’s eyes.

Mom pulled them closer. “The next time you are tempted to break a rule you don’t understand,” she said, “please come and talk it over with us first. We have these rules because we love you.”

Sometimes we think the authorities in our lives make us follow foolish rules. Willy thought his mom was overreacting. After all, he was a smart kid and they were being really careful! But his mom knew something he did not know.

God is all-knowing, and He is all-loving. We do not always understand the reasons behind all His laws, either, but we can know from the Bible that He disciplines us because He loves us. The Bible makes it clear that we are not to “despise” or “regard lightly” the discipline of the Lord. We ought to take it seriously and to be grateful for it. God’s discipline is proof that He loves us as His own children.

God disciplines His children for His glory and their best good.

My Response:
» Do I need to ask God’s forgiveness for sinning against Him?
» How do I respond when I “get in trouble” with God?
» How should God’s love motivate me to think before I give in to temptations?

“The hope of the righteous shall be gladness: but the expectation of the wicked shall perish.” (Proverbs 10:28)

Jamie and Uncle Mike climbed into the big red Ford F150. The tackleboxes were between them on the seat. As Uncle Mike drove them to the lot on the lake where their favorite fishing alcove was, Jamie opened up one of the tackleboxes to take a look at the lures. There were all kinds, some of them knobby or slimy, some feathery, some glossy. And all of them were colorful! Jamie especially liked the brand new jitterbugs Uncle Mike had bought down in Florida last month. As the truck rumbled to a stop in the gravel by the boat ramp, Jamie had a bright idea. While Uncle Mike got busy cranking down the fishing boat, Jamie got busy picking out the fanciest, smoothest, reddest (because red was his favorite color) jitterbug for himself. Without a sound, Jamie shoved the lure in his jeans pocket and went out to help Uncle Mike put the gear in the boat.

All morning, they shared the tackle, and Uncle Mike never seemed to realize that the red jitterbug was gone from the box. They caught a couple white bass but threw them back in the lake before heading back to Uncle Mike’s cabin for lunch. They were laughing about something as they jumped back into the truck, and Jamie sat down hard. Every fish in the lake and every bird in the sky probably heard the scream that came out of Jamie’s mouth a second later. His fingers got all bloody as he pulled and tore at his pants pocket to get the hooks of the stolen red jitterbug out. Instead of going to lunch, they had to get Jamie to the hospital for a tetanus shot and for a couple of stitches where he had sat down on the lure.

Sometimes sin seems so harmless and inviting. We go after things we want, in spite of warnings and danger. We fall for temptations, just like unsuspecting fish that go hungrily after bait, even though the bait hides a hook. Jamie was tempted to steal Uncle Mike’s red jitterbug lure because it was shiny and colorful and something he wanted to have just for himself. Was it worth it in the end, though? Jamie’s plan brought him a lot more hurt than happiness. Not only did he suffer physical pain and a lot of embarrassment, but his actions also disappointed his Uncle Mike and spoiled the whole fishing trip.

Jamie had high hopes of being the owner of a glossy red jitterbug without paying for it. But he didn’t get away with it. The Bible teaches that God is holy. Not only is it right to obey His Law, but it is also better for us! God is the only Source of true, lasting joy. In His grace, He teaches us (sometimes painfully) that nothing else, especially not sin, can satisfy us. Our hopes and expectations should be in Him.

Only God can satisfy the desires of our hearts.

My Response:
» Have I been fooling myself that something or someone can make me happier than being right with God?
» Why does sin sometimes “look good” to me?
» How can remembering that my hope is in God help me as I fight against temptations to sin?

“He will turn again; He will have compassion upon us; he will subdue our iniquities; and thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea.” (Micah 7:19)

Have you ever wondered if God has really forgiven you of your sin after you’ve confessed it to Him, and asked His forgiveness? Do you fear there’s a possibility that He’ll hold your sin against you in the future? In our verse for today, God compares His forgiveness of our sins as if He has thrown them “into the depths of the sea.”

Consider the following amazing facts about the deepest part of the sea:

– The deepest point of the Pacific Ocean is called the “Marianas Trench.”

– Its depth is 36,089 ft. (nearly 7 miles!)

– The lowest part of the Marianas Trench is called the “Challenger Deep.”

– “Mt. Everest could fit into the Challenger Deep and its peak still be covered by over a mile and a quarter of ocean. If you dropped a steel ball into the Challenger Deep from a ship, the ball would fall through the ocean for sixty-three minutes before it hit bottom.” (Science 5 for Christian Schools, Second Edition, BJU Press, 1990, page 31.)

Just think what that means! The deepest part of the sea could completely cover Mt. Everest! Now, with that thought in mind, read Micah 7:19 once more. God is giving us a wonderful illustration to show us that our sins are forgiven for all eternity. We read in Jeremiah 31:34b, “For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.” You will never have to wonder again whether your confessed sin will be forgiven by God. He has “cast all your sin into the depths of the sea.”

Spend some time today in prayer thanking God for His assurance that your sins are forgiven. Another good verse to memorize would be 1 John 1:9: “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

God forgives our sins and puts them far away from Him.

My Response:
» Have I been doubting God’s promises about forgiven sin?
» How can I show others that I rejoice in an amazing, forgiving God?

“For they got not the land in possession by their own sword, neither did their own arm save them: but thy right hand, and thine arm, and the light of thy countenance, because thou hadst a favour unto them.” (Psalm 44:3)

Do you like to have strong friends? Strong friends can really come in handy. A strong friend can help you lift something heavy. A strong friend can hit the ball really far for your team. A strong friend can stand-up for you if a bully is mean to you.

In Psalm 44, the Hebrew songwriter remembers when the Lord God brought the Hebrews into the Promised Land. The songwriter says in Psalm 44:3 that the Hebrews were not able to win the battles by themselves, but God’s strong right arm won the battles for them.

Does God literally have an arm? No, not really. We know that God is a spirit (John 4:24), and a spirit does not have arms or legs that we can actually see. The songwriter is using a word picture to say that the Lord God of Israel is very strong. Think about it. When you see someone who is very strong, what do notice first? Their arms. Sometimes kids want to show off their muscles. Do you flex your leg to show off your muscles? No! You would probably flex your arms to show how strong you are. When the songwriter says that God’s “arm” saved the Hebrews, he is using a word picture to express that God was stronger than all of Israel’s enemies.

And God is stronger than your enemies, too. The devil is one of our enemies, because he wants us to disobey God. But God is stronger than the devil! Sometimes other people want you to disobey God, and God wants to help you be strong so that you will obey Him. Every person who is trusting in Jesus for salvation is sometimes still tempted to disobey God. God is stronger than any temptation a child of God might face. Just as God defeated the Hebrews’ enemies a long time ago, He wants to defeat our spiritual enemies today. And He can, because God is very strong!

God is stronger than anyone or anything.

My Response:
» Have I been relying on my own strength to help me face a problem?
» What are some “battles” I’m fighting right now that I should give over to God to fight for me?
» How can I show others my faith that my God is stronger than anyone or anything?