Today’s Verse
“The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.”
John 1:5
Light in the Darkness
Hope in dark times doesn’t mean pretending the darkness isn’t real. It doesn’t mean forcing a smile when your heart is breaking or declaring victory when you’re still in the battle. Hope is something quieter, deeper, more resilient than that.
Hope is the small flame you carry when everything around you is black. It’s the stubborn belief that this isn’t the end of the story, even when you can’t imagine how the next chapter could possibly be better. It’s trusting that God is present in the darkness, not just waiting for you on the other side of it.
The beautiful thing about darkness is that it doesn’t take much light to break through. One candle. One truth. One whispered reminder that God has been faithful before and He will be faithful again. When you’re surrounded by shadows, even the smallest light becomes significant.
Today, if you’re in a dark season, don’t feel pressure to manufacture hope you don’t feel. Instead, ask God to help you see it, the tiny evidences of His presence, the small mercies, the faint glimmers that remind you He’s still there. Hope isn’t something you create; it’s something you discover. And even in your darkest moment, it’s closer than you think.
Today’s Prayer
Lord, help me see hope in dark times, when everything around me feels heavy and I can’t find the light.
Right now it’s hard to believe that things will get better, that joy will return, that this season of difficulty won’t last forever.
Teach me to look for You in the darkness, to trust that even when I can’t see a way forward, You are still working, still present, still faithful.
Help me remember the times You’ve brought me through before, the moments when You showed up when I least expected it, the ways You’ve been faithful even when I couldn’t see it at the time.
Remind me that hope is not pretending everything is fine, it’s choosing to believe that You are good and You are with me even when everything feels broken.
Give me eyes to see the small glimmers of light, the unexpected mercies, the quiet reminders that You have not abandoned me and You will not leave me in this darkness.
Let hope rise in my heart, not because my circumstances have changed but because You are the God who brings morning after the longest nights, who makes beauty from ashes, who never stops being faithful.
In Jesus’
Amen.