Pslogging in the Dark

My son is scared of the dark. He's seven, and he periodically has night terrors.

When the night terrors started a few years ago, he said he had a bad dream. When asked about the bad dream, he said he saw E.T. in his room.

Imagine my surprise. Yes, we had recently watched E.T. with the kids, but I always remembered E.T. as the cuddly creature hiding amid the stuffed animals in the closet. It stumbled over stuff in the garage (who of us hasn't), spewed beer in the kitchen and did some cool bicycle tricks, but nothing that caused me to sit up in bed trembling in the middle of the night.

Nonetheless, my son's fears are real. Believe me, when he screams in the middle of the night, it gets everyone's attention. When this happens, he wants me to lay down next to him. Can't move until he goes back to sleep. Once he gets still, he wraps his arms around my neck and holds on for everything he has. Maybe it's when he wraps his arms around my neck that he finally gets still.

Being alone in the dark can be scary. And there's a lot of darkness in the world, isn't there.

I'm aware that a lot of friends are slogging along with some pretty heavy stuff. Two friends in my Sunday school class whose mothers are undergoing treatment for cancer. A friend whose father just succumbed to cancer. A neighbor who just moved her grandmother with Alzheimers into an assisted living facility. Another neighbor whose father is recovering from major surgery. One of my kid's teachers - herself a mother of three - who's been hospitalized for a week with major scary circulatory issues. Close friends who are getting buried under ever-increasing mounds of debt and the despair and stress that goes along with it. People I love who daily battle - some more successfully than others - the demon of addiction. Some of my kids' classmates who are robbed of the innocence of their childhood.

Psalm 23:4 (New International Reader's Version) says this,

Even though I walk
through the darkest valley,
I will not be afraid.
You are with me.
Your shepherd's rod and staff
comfort me.

When you find yourself in the dark, what do you hold onto?

The Psalms are full of beautifully expressed experiences of God being with someone when the going gets tough - in the darkness, in the pit, you name it. This is a basic affirmation of our faith, isn't it - that God is with us through the slog, every step of the way.

Wrap your arms around God and hold on for everything you have. When you don't have anything left, keep holding on. You realize you aren't alone. You have all you need. Suddenly light begins to emerge, and the darkness fades. It doesn't go away entirely, but the fear subsides. You discover a moment of peace.

As you make your way through the slog, you'll have some dark days and face some scary stuff along the way. You aren't alone, though. God's slogging right there with you, every step of the way.