It wasn’t the dark that she was afraid of. It was the monsters. In the dark. She was convinced they were there and nothing could change her mind. Her bedtime routine had never had complications before, until now. It took awhile, but she eventually outgrew this stage. After prayer, consoling, and giving it some time, she finally was able to have a peaceful night’s sleep.

What are we afraid of as homeschool moms? The sick days, as a mom, can be daunting. You have the perfect curriculum lined up. Awesome lesson plans set in order. The only thing that can hinder your plan from being executed perfectly is if you get sick. But that won’t happen, you’ve been indestructible for months, you’ve got this. Then it does happen. The darkness sets it. You become sick for a week, a month, maybe even a chronic illness. Everything that you had planned can’t be accomplished the way you had hoped. You feel like a failure even though you had no control over the circumstances.

Darkness can be different for everyone. Moving to a new state and having to adjust to new homeschool rules and regulations. A death in the family. A job loss or change. It’s not so much the trouble that besets you but the difficulties that arise because of them.

Where do you go from here?

The Bible says in Proverbs 16:9 that, “In their hearts humans plan their course, but the LORD establishes their steps.”

We need to remember that even though we never expected these situations to happen in our lives and we didn’t plan for them, the Lord is there to guide our steps. It’s as if you have fallen into a pit that seems impossible to escape from. You look around for a rope, a tool, a way out, anything, but there is absolutely nothing accessible to aid in escape. When you turn to the Lord and ask for His help, He will show you where to step. He might take you on a longer route than you would have chosen, but He will take you, lead you and guide you nonetheless.

Once we acknowledge that the Lord is the One that can ultimately show us the way out of these dark situations then how do we accept his help?

There are many ways. Reading His Word, prayer, counsel from godly men and women, but first we need to completely let go of our abilities. Our tools. Our methods. We need to burn our bridges and then tell the Lord we are ready for Him to take us on the path that He has chosen for us.

This is when we Sing.

O sing unto the Lord a new song, sing unto the Lord, all the earth.

Psalm 96:1

Sing to the Lord. There is a time and a place to listen to others sing to God. It can help us get focused. But there is a time when we need to sing to God ourselves. A new song. A song from our heart, to Him. A song to the God who is with us in the midst of the dark night. When we sing, we are able to give praise to the One that is higher than our circumstances and troubles rather than focusing on the troubles themselves. Sing from your heart, sing the scriptures, sing unto the Lord.

If you find yourself struggling in a dark place, sing. Sing to the Lord. And remember, He will establish your steps.

Teach your kids to sing The Word with this CD from Rainbow Resource, Sing The Word From A-Z.