Dealing with Dark Days

Dark days come in every great story.

Maybe these feel like some dark days to you, too. This is a time of uncertainty, where it feels like we’re fighting an invisible enemy without proper weapons.

But in fact, this is nothing new. There’s no need to panic. (What good, after all, does panic do?) Dark days come in every story. We are always fighting against an unseen enemy who seeks to destroy us with fear and despair. And though we can’t fight him off with guns or swords, we have more powerful weapons at our disposal.

Our greatest weapon? Hope. We have a secure, unshakeable hope. We have on our side the most powerful being in the universe who loves us and has promised good for those who love Him. He’s the author of our stories. We aren’t subject to the uncaring whims of a chaotic world. We can ask God for help—and He is both willing and able to answer.

He may not answer the way we want. Many times we ask simply to be rescued from the dark times when He’s ready to give us everything we need to fight through them and come out stronger with treasures in hand. We often ask for the bad thing not to happen at all when He wants to bring something even greater out of it—something so beautiful that it eclipses the bad thing entirely.

And no matter what gets lost, He can find it. No matter what gets killed, He can bring new life to it. And no matter what ends, He can bring a new beginning to it. That is the ultimate end: after all the hardship and struggle in this world, He will bring all things to glory and peace, and we will live in unbroken joy with Him.

So fight. Fight through the darkness. Shine your light of hope so bright that the shadows run in fear instead. Resist the enemy, and he will flee from you—his power is nothing compared the power of the One we’ve put our hope in.

Dark days come in every story. But the stories never end there.

If you haven’t put your hope in Jesus, there’s no better time than now. He is the Savior who has defeated death and evil for all time, and His arms are stretched out to you. All you have to do is put your faith in Him. He’s done the rest.