Daily Devotional

If you had to pick the darkest day of the year, spiritually speaking what would it be? For me, I would say October 31st, All Hallows Eve, or Halloween, as we know it would be a top contender. It is the night that, at least in this country, celebrates all things dark, such as death, evil spirits, paganism, etc. Now don’t get me wrong, many people just like to dress up in a fun costume and eat candy, and from a child’s perspective that is really what the holiday is about. However, it cannot be denied that as adults, the accepted symbolism of the holiday is all about darkness and death.

I bring all this up because we are approaching Halloween and for me, it has a different and special significance. You see 38 years ago, my best friend’s mom was suddenly killed in a car accident, and at a very young age, I had to grapple with the idea of death and what it meant. And while my friend’s mom’s death was tragic and hurt all involved it ultimately led to me accepting Christ as my savior on Halloween night, the darkest night of the year.
You see, the enemy wants to use nights like Halloween to distract us from God, to convince us to celebrate the darkness and revel in our sin. But God will use all things for His purpose, even things we might see as bad or evil. In Genesis 50:20 it says: “As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good in order to bring about this present result, to preserve many people alive.” And Romans 8:28 says “And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.”

You see God will use even the darkness to bring us into His light. Every year our Church puts on a carnival on Halloween for the community to provide a safe place for families to come and enjoy the holiday. And without much advertising the community, many of them unchurched, come flocking to our Church for fun, food, and candy. And we give them that, along with the love of Christ and the Gospel. Because even on the darkest night of the year, the light of Jesus shines brightly and we pray that many would come to know the Good News of Jesus Christ. No matter what your circumstances, if you simply confess Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, and believe that He died and rose again for your sins, you will be saved.

What a blessed hope that is. So don’t be afraid to show the love of Christ in all circumstances, on all days, even the dark ones, for the light shines brightest in the darkness.

New King James Version (NKJV)
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.