Daily Devotional for Small Group Discussion: Go to Sleep. Good Night.

“The hour is coming, indeed it has already come, when you will be scattered, each one to his home, and you will leave me alone. Yet I am not alone because my Father is with me. I have said this to you so that in me you may have peace. In the world you face trouble and persecution. But take courage; I have overcome the world!”—John 16:30-33

Discussion Questions:

1.   What are the fears that keep you up at night?
2.   How do you push through your fears? What keeps you going in spite of them?
3.   Are there particular scriptures that help you find courage when you are afraid?


Go to Sleep. Good Night.

“Jesus said to them, ‘In this world you will have trouble. But do not be afraid. I have overcome the world.’” – John 16:33

If you’re a parent, or if you’ve cared for a child overnight, you’ll recognize this drill: Read story, say prayers, position bunny, plant kiss, douse lights, tiptoe out. Child cries, “Monsters!” (or alligators, or spiders on the wall, or…)” Lights on. Peer under bed. Reassure, “No monsters. Go to sleep. Good night.”

It’s a charming game, calming irrational kid-fears with rational adult assurances. But as Rabbi Edward Friedman observes, there comes a moment when it scares you more than it scares the kids—the moment you realize they have it right. There are monsters in the room, children just don’t know their real names. But you do—drugs, cancer, racism, bullying, terrorism, molestation, family breakup. Suddenly your assurances seem more irrational than their fears.

You freeze up when you imagine what’s hovering in that room. Yet you still say it, night after night: “No monsters. Go to sleep. Good night.” Even knowing what you know, you leave them in the dark. “See you in the morning,” you whisper, and tiptoe away.

Friedman says, “That’s faith. Not the affirmation of some abstract belief, but the courage to live in a world with no guarantees. To bring children into that world. To offer a child a big tomorrow when you can’t be certain tomorrow will come…”

That’s faith: “Beyond the mystery, meaning. Beyond the brokenness, wholeness. Beyond the despair, hope. Beyond the fear, purpose.” Beyond the menace of monsters, a constant voice: “I have overcome the world.”

Prayer 

Give me faith to tiptoe away from dread and fear, O Christ; faith even to promise safety I can’t deliver, trusting that you will.