“When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me,” (1st Corinthians 13:11).

When I was a child I was afraid of the dark. I remember taking the trash out at night and trying to get back in the house as fast as I could. I remember sleeping with the TV on but muted so I wouldn’t be in the dark.

Many children are afraid of the dark. What is it that makes a childish mind fear the lack of light? I believe it’s fear of the unknown. Unfortunately, this fear doesn’t go away as we grow into adulthood. We still fear the unknown and, we still fear the darkness.

Even as a grown, Christian man, I still fear the works of the enemy…the “darkness”. I fear I won’t have the money to pay my bills. I fear having a medical crisis or car problems which I can do nothing about. I fear people may look down on me because of my background, or the way I dress. I fear the dangers which lie in some of the ministries God has called me to be involved in.

It’s the same fear which gripped me as a child. Fear of the unknown. Fear of the darkness. The great philosopher Bob Marley once said, “Light up the darkness”. He said this from the stage the night after someone had said they would kill him if he went forward with his concert.

I believe we all have fears. There’s something in each of us which fears the unknown, which fears what could be coming out of the darkness at any moment.

The difference between great people whose names go in history books and “average Joes” is this. Average people allow fear to dictate what they do or don’t do in this life. Great people feel the fear, yet trust God to be the deliverer and protector He says He is in His Word.

Often this deliverance will not come in the form we think it ought to. Martin Luther King Jr. died as he was “lighting up the darkness”. Some may say God didn’t deliver or protect him.

However, I heard a story once, about Dr. King sitting at his dining room table late at night. His phone rang and the voice on the other end was telling him if he didn’t stop preaching what he was preaching they were going to kill him and his family.

Dr. King hung up the phone, and the story says he began to weep. He told God, “I’ve preached your kingdom and justice all over the world, I’ve preached your kingdom and justice all over America, but right now I’m scared and I need to hear you say my name.”

As the story goes, Martin Luther King Jr. heard a voice out of the silence whisper to him, “you’re never alone Martin…I’ll never leave you”.

We know Dr. King lost his life following the call God placed on him, but we also know the work he was involved in has brought the United States of America a president who 40 years ago wouldn’t have even been allowed to vote.

There’s something about hearing our Father say our name which will inspire us to follow Him, even to the death. We need to know that Daddy knows us and is with us. If Daddy walks with us into the darkness, it seems a little less dark.

For many of us the darkness may not be as physically dangerous as it was for Dr. King, but we all have darkness in our lives. We all have unknowns which creep into our minds and tell us to abandon the call God has placed on us.

I’ve heard certain great men described as “fearless”. I don’t believe this to be an accurate description of any person. We all fear. Courage is not the absence of fear. It’s the presence of fear coupled with the trust in a mighty God to “work all things to the good of those who love Him” (Romans 8:28).

God has an adventure He is longing to take you on. A journey specifically designed for you as he knit you together in your mother’s womb. An epic tale which will be unique to your life.

However, there is also an enemy of your soul. An enemy who would love for you to be trapped in mediocrity and never realize the potential God has woven into your DNA. His most common trick in doing this is gripping us with fear of the “what ifs”.

If you spend your life hesitating over the “what ifs” in what God’s calling you to, you will one day find yourself at the end of your life, now looking back, and still asking what if.

I would much prefer to walk into the darkness, with God’s word as a light to my path, face the “what ifs” now, and not have to ask myself that question later.

A.W. Tozer said, “What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us”. What comes into your mind? Is He daddy? Is He protector? Is He deliverer? If He is, then live like He is.

Run into the darkness with a reckless abandon and God as your lamp. Allow Him to use you to change this dark world in which we live.

God is truly, “the light of the world,” and our responsibility as Christians is to take His truths to a hurting and dying people, therefore eliminating the darkness, one soul at a time.

“Seek justice, encourage the oppressed. Defend the cause of the fatherless, plead the case of the widow” (Isaiah 1:17). “Do not be afraid” God repeatedly tells us through His love letter we call the Bible…”Do not be afraid of them for I am with you and will rescue you declares the Lord” (Jeremiah 1:8). Indeed, He is with us and indeed He will rescue us. Regardless of how it looks, His deliverance is sure and His rescue is perfect.

Trust the light of the world.

Light up the darkness.