I went running yesterday evening. I usually run in the mornings right at daybreak, but last night I decided to wait and run about 7:20. Apparently it’s getting darker earlier and I didn’t take that into consideration. By the time I hit mile 4, it was dark; I mean stars were shining, moon reflecting, dark and I still had a mile to go. There were a few street lights here and there around Cherry Lake, but in general, the only light I had was from the moon. The darker it got, the spookier I felt. Little noises made the hair on the back of my neck stand up. Every fire hydrant and road sign was a vicious animal, waiting to jump out and attack. At one point I stepped and something moved between my stride; I almost twisted my ankle leaping to get away. It was probably just a frog, but to me, it was a boa constrictor. The places that were the hardest to trudge forward through were the ones covered in shadows. I was so afraid that I would startle some unsuspecting creature and in turn become their target. What if I startled a skunk? I would smell for days. What if I stepped on a snake? I could die, a mile away from my car, and all because of the lack of light. Fear completely took over.

There’s just something about the dark. Everything seems a little scarier in the dark. Noises that I would have never noticed in the day time move to the forefront of my senses. Shadows loom around every corner. Places that are comfortable and familiar become places filled with fears and doubts. Uncertainty clouds my judgment and I lose my bearings, even in places I’ve traveled a hundred times. Everything changes with the absence of light.

While I was running last night, I found myself praying, “Just enough light for the next step, God. I don’t need to see down the road, just what’s in front of my feet. Please help me see enough to make it to the next step.” As  long as I was trusting God for enough light to see what was just ahead, I wasn’t afraid; it was when a shadow caught my attention or a noise distracted me. As soon as I got distracted, I got scared, I became afraid. I stopped trusting God for the light and started to fear what was ahead.

Sometimes God leads us into seasons where he asks us to blindly step forward into his will for our lives. We aren’t sure of the answers, we don’t know what’s to come, he just asks us to trust him. There is darkness all around and we don’t know what’s coming next, but if we keep asking God for just enough light for the next step, he will be faithful to help us run through the darkness straight into the safety of his plan for our lives. We just have to keep our eyes focused on him and not get distracted by the worries, doubts, and fears.

Just enough light…