I love God, I trust Him, and I know that I belong to Him. But that doesn’t mean I never struggle with fear. One of the places I struggle with it the most is at night.
I struggle with nightmares. Some nights they are so real that I wake up scared and have a hard time shaking the feeling afterward. As a Christian, I sometimes wonder if what I’m experiencing is spiritual warfare. I know the enemy wants to fill us with fear, steal our peace, and turn our attention away from God. Sometimes I wonder if that is exactly what he is trying to do to me at night.
The Bible tells us that spiritual warfare is real. Ephesians 6:12 says, “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” (NIV)
I don’t know that every nightmare comes from the enemy. Our minds carry stress, memories, fears, and things from our past that we may still be working through. But whether a nightmare is spiritual warfare or simply my mind processing things while I sleep, I know where I can turn when I wake up afraid.
I can turn to Jesus.
I can pray, say His name, and remind myself that I belong to Him. I can remind myself that whatever I just dreamed cannot change who God is or the protection and peace I have in Him. Psalm 4:8 says, “In peace I will lie down and sleep, for you alone, LORD, make me dwell in safety.” (NIV)
There are nights when my prayer is nothing more than, “Jesus, I’m scared. Please take this fear away and help me go back to sleep.” I don’t need to have the perfect words. I just need to know who I’m calling out to.
The enemy may try to use fear against me, but he does not get to have my peace. I belong to Jesus. And when I wake up in the darkness feeling afraid, I can remind myself that I am not alone. Jesus is right there with me.
The darkness will never be greater than the Light.