If I say, "Surely the darkness shall cover me, and the light about me be night," even the darkness is not dark to You; the night is bright as the day, for darkness is as light with You. For You formed my inward parts .... Psalms 139:11-13a

Not so long ago, a mother told me how, when cleaning up after dinner, she dropped a plate that shattered on the kitchen floor. Naturally, the commotion brought her four-year-old son at a dead run.

As he wasn't wearing any shoes, she stopped him and asked him to go downstairs for the broom and the dustpan. He said no words, but you could see on his face the questions: "Go downstairs? Go into the dark, creepy, cob webby, damp, bug-and-who-knows-what-else-kind-of-monsters-are-down-there basement?"

No, he didn't want to do that.

Mom encouraged, "Don't worry, I'll be up here."

Even that wasn't enough to dispel that darkness. Falling back on religion, mom said, "Jesus is down there. You don't have to be afraid. Get the dustpan and broom." Quickly, the four-year-old replied, "Jesus is down here?"

"Yes," mom assured him. That was okay.

The lad walked boldly over to the basement door, threw it open with confidence and shouted, "Jesus, since You're down there already, mom wants you to bring up the broom." It was only when mom -- hand in hand with her little one -- went down the stairs, did the broom and dustpan get brought up.

Now you know and I know this sinful world is filled with darkness. The news reports and our own personal experiences can make us feel the darkness will soon cover us.

Indeed, that would be the case if we didn't have Jesus. Jesus' hand around ours is the way the Lord manages to rescue us and move us from darkness into His light.

True, we may not always be able to see the Savior, and it is equally true He isn't going to deliver brooms and dustpans on request.

Even so, He is with us.

The Savior, who was born for us, lived for us, suffered and died for us, is there. The risen and ever-living Christ is present to listen to our prayers, to still our fears and direct us through any darkness the devil, death or this world can produce.

THE PRAYER: Dear Lord today I give thanks for the Savior whose living light dispels any and all of sin's darkness. May my hand always rest in His nail-pierced hands and my heart trust in Him, who has conquered anything and everything which might try to darken this day. In His Name. Amen.

In Christ I remain His servant and yours,

Today's Bible Readings: Leviticus 17-18    Mark 9:1-29

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