roadrunner570
February 9th, 2008, 08:45 AM
Fear of the Dark
When I was a little kid, I was afraid of the dark. I remember when I was around 10-11 years old; I saw the movie Nightmare on Elm Street for the first time. That movie terrified me. I couldn’t sleep right for months. I slept on the floor of my mom and dad’s room for several weeks. When I finally went back to my room, I slept with the light on. I’m not sure exactly how long it was before I could sleep right without having nightmares. I would have never thought one movie could have that kind of effect. Perhaps there was more going on with me at the time that I didn’t realize. Either way, I had a terrible fear of the dark at that time.
Our 7 year old daughter has a night light she keeps on at night. She says she is afraid of the dark as well. Though her fear doesn’t seem to be due to any specific movie, she just doesn’t like the dark. What causes this? Why are children so afraid of the dark? What is it about the absence of light that we find so terrifying? During my fearful time as a child, my mom used to read this verse to me:
1Jn 4:4 You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.
1.)You are from God
We easily forget this. Maybe it’s because we have the rest of the world everyday telling us we’re worthless. I know I am often hard on myself. Maybe I have low self esteem, or maybe I just take myself too seriously sometimes. I’m sure we all do this to ourselves from time to time. Before we beat ourselves up over anything, we must remember we are God’s children. He created us, he formed us, and he died for us. Even the least of us has something to offer.
When we face our fears, be it darkness or whatever, we must remember we are from God. When I was a corrections officer, there was many times I had to go into a violent situation against a convicted murderer or violent felon. My heart was often ready to jump out of my chest during those times. If only I knew to lean on God back then instead of myself, I might not have been so scared.
2.) You have overcome them
The verse prior to this one in 1 John refers to “them” as the spirits of this world. That can be pretty much anything. Any person or group that stands against us or tries to harm us is one of “them”. But John says we have overcome them. Since we are from God, we already have the victory. Just like I’ve mentioned in previous blogs, Jesus already won that victory for us. We have no need to fear.
3.)Greater is he who is in you, than the one who is in the world
Here, John sums it all up. The Holy Spirit dwells in each of us. The Holy Spirit is one third of the Godhead. God himself dwells within us. The God who created the universe and who set the planets into motion lives inside of you. The same God who sets weather patterns and who has moved mountains dwells inside you. Isn’t that something? It is so easy for us to lose sight of this. We are so quick to believe Satan’s lies and to doubt our God, yet it is Satan who should be in fear. It should be those who would stand against us who are in fear. We seem to have no idea what kind of power is available to us.
Our enemies like us to think that we are weak and powerless. I often see movies where a killer or criminal is going to harm someone, and the victim will cry, “Please God, help me!” and the criminal laughs at them and says, “God can’t help you now!”
When I wrote suspense novels years ago, I wrote garbage like that. What would make for a better story is for that person to stand up and look at their attacker and begin praying, or to look at them and say “Jesus loves you my friend.” If the attacker still begins to hurt them, then have the victim begin singing “Jesus Loves Me.” It would be interesting to see how the criminal would respond then. But we watch this stuff and we believe it. We believe the lie that “God can’t help you know…” Truth is, God already has helped us and he will continue to help us. As I’ve said in previous blogs, we just need to believe it.
Just like the song says:
He wraps himself in light
And darkness tries to hide
It trembles at his voice…
0mpHJ_4BCaQ
Tim Miller 2008
When I was a little kid, I was afraid of the dark. I remember when I was around 10-11 years old; I saw the movie Nightmare on Elm Street for the first time. That movie terrified me. I couldn’t sleep right for months. I slept on the floor of my mom and dad’s room for several weeks. When I finally went back to my room, I slept with the light on. I’m not sure exactly how long it was before I could sleep right without having nightmares. I would have never thought one movie could have that kind of effect. Perhaps there was more going on with me at the time that I didn’t realize. Either way, I had a terrible fear of the dark at that time.
Our 7 year old daughter has a night light she keeps on at night. She says she is afraid of the dark as well. Though her fear doesn’t seem to be due to any specific movie, she just doesn’t like the dark. What causes this? Why are children so afraid of the dark? What is it about the absence of light that we find so terrifying? During my fearful time as a child, my mom used to read this verse to me:
1Jn 4:4 You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.
1.)You are from God
We easily forget this. Maybe it’s because we have the rest of the world everyday telling us we’re worthless. I know I am often hard on myself. Maybe I have low self esteem, or maybe I just take myself too seriously sometimes. I’m sure we all do this to ourselves from time to time. Before we beat ourselves up over anything, we must remember we are God’s children. He created us, he formed us, and he died for us. Even the least of us has something to offer.
When we face our fears, be it darkness or whatever, we must remember we are from God. When I was a corrections officer, there was many times I had to go into a violent situation against a convicted murderer or violent felon. My heart was often ready to jump out of my chest during those times. If only I knew to lean on God back then instead of myself, I might not have been so scared.
2.) You have overcome them
The verse prior to this one in 1 John refers to “them” as the spirits of this world. That can be pretty much anything. Any person or group that stands against us or tries to harm us is one of “them”. But John says we have overcome them. Since we are from God, we already have the victory. Just like I’ve mentioned in previous blogs, Jesus already won that victory for us. We have no need to fear.
3.)Greater is he who is in you, than the one who is in the world
Here, John sums it all up. The Holy Spirit dwells in each of us. The Holy Spirit is one third of the Godhead. God himself dwells within us. The God who created the universe and who set the planets into motion lives inside of you. The same God who sets weather patterns and who has moved mountains dwells inside you. Isn’t that something? It is so easy for us to lose sight of this. We are so quick to believe Satan’s lies and to doubt our God, yet it is Satan who should be in fear. It should be those who would stand against us who are in fear. We seem to have no idea what kind of power is available to us.
Our enemies like us to think that we are weak and powerless. I often see movies where a killer or criminal is going to harm someone, and the victim will cry, “Please God, help me!” and the criminal laughs at them and says, “God can’t help you now!”
When I wrote suspense novels years ago, I wrote garbage like that. What would make for a better story is for that person to stand up and look at their attacker and begin praying, or to look at them and say “Jesus loves you my friend.” If the attacker still begins to hurt them, then have the victim begin singing “Jesus Loves Me.” It would be interesting to see how the criminal would respond then. But we watch this stuff and we believe it. We believe the lie that “God can’t help you know…” Truth is, God already has helped us and he will continue to help us. As I’ve said in previous blogs, we just need to believe it.
Just like the song says:
He wraps himself in light
And darkness tries to hide
It trembles at his voice…
0mpHJ_4BCaQ
Tim Miller 2008