Bible Reading: John 1:1-14; 1 John 1:5-7
Macy and Noah finished their schoolwork at the table with Mom. Macy read a chapter book while her little brother Noah worked on his alphabet.
Noah pushed away his flashcards. "Are we almost done?" he asked Mom. "I want to go outside and play!"
Macy looked out the window. Clouds darkened the mid-afternoon sky. Leaves swirled off the trees in the gusts of wind. "I don't think we should play outside today."
"Yeah, it looks a little too windy," Mom agreed.
The lights flickered. Then they went out. Darkness surrounded Macy, Noah, and Mom. "Don't worry," Mom said. "It's just the wind. The power will be back on soon."
Macy took a deep breath. She wanted to be brave. She was the big sister. But she hated the way the darkness swallowed her up.
Mom grabbed a flashlight out of the cabinet, then sighed. "Battery's dead."
"Don't we have more?" Macy asked, voice trembling.
"I don't think so."
Noah must have heard the fear in Macy's voice. He took her hand. "It's okay. Jesus is the light."
Macy looked around. Other than the dim light from outside, there was no light to be found. "What do you mean?"
"It's what my Sunday school teacher said." Noah grinned. "Jesus is our light. We can trust Him."
Mom wrapped her arms around them. "Thanks for that reminder, Noah. We can't see God, but He's here. And we can trust Him to lead us, the way a flashlight--if it had batteries--would lead us through this dark house."
Macy closed her eyes. She thought about the dark things Jesus went through because he loved them. She thought about His promise to be with them. Then she said a prayer in her heart. Jesus, can you be my light, even in the darkness?
She opened her eyes. The power didn't come back on--not right away. No light pierced through the darkness.
But she felt Mom and Noah holding her close. And she felt like God was holding her too.
"You're right, Noah," Macy said. "Jesus is my light, and I trust Him."
-Becca Wierwille
How About You?Do you ever feel like you're surrounded by darkness? Maybe you get nervous when the lights are off. Or maybe there are things going on in your life that feel dark and scary. No matter what, we can trust Jesus to be our light. We can trust Him to be with us, to comfort us, and to love us--even through moments of darkness.
Today's Key Verse:This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. (NKJV)
(1 John 1:5)
Today's Key Thought:Trust God to be your light