Are You Afraid of the Dark?

I'm afraid of the dark. Not as afraid as I am of spiders and I am afraid of the dark only occasionally. But, I don't like being in the dark very much, which doesn't bode well for me as a youth group counselor when a lot of my teens like to play games, like Sardines, in the dark.

Last night, I couldn't sleep and sometime after 1 am, I got thirsty and went downstairs for a drink. Not wanting to wake my husband, I didn't turn on any light until I got to the dining room. It is always darker after once you had light and then did not, so when I turned off the light, I suddenly felt so overwhelmed by the darkness and my thoughts of all things that are scary that I quickly ran upstairs thinking that the faster I get to bed, the safer I would feel.

Not a smart move. Not smart at all.

My quick-pattering feet up the stairs and into the bedroom startled my husband wide awake and he thought we were under attack by an intruder. He screamed and I screamed and we both screamed some more, but not for ice cream. Finally, not wanting to be clobbered over the head by the wooden bat by my husband's side of the bed, I cried out, "It's me! It's me! It's only me!"

I turned on the lamp on my nightstand and I quickly hugged my husband close to me and over and over again I apologized for frightening him. When our fast-beating hearts slowly drummed to a steady, calmer pace, we laid back down to sleep. But, I stayed awake a while more because I kept hearing his frightened shouts in my head. My logical and sensible husband screaming. I never want to hear that sound again. And I felt all the more worse knowing that I had caused it because of my childish fear of the dark.

Like I said, I'm not always afraid of the dark, but recently I have been because of this. My fear of the dark will soon pass and I hope it will before my husband leaves for a week-long training sometime this month. Then, I will have to rely on God's power to protect me from the darkness.

2 Corinthians 4:5-7 (New International Version)

For we do not preach ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus' sake. For God, who said, "Let light shine out of darkness," made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.

But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.