Prayer for October

 Father, October is one of the most beautiful months of the year here in the Northern Hemisphere. It's also a month now wholly overshadowed by its final day. 

In my childhood, and even my children's, the eclipse wasn't yet total. Now the stores, the costumes, the yard decor, the party planning, have swallowed October whole. The witchy vibes, the Samhain celebrations, the coven gatherings, are more plentiful and open than they've ever been. Isaiah 60 describes our day when it says, "See, darkness covers the earth and thick darkness is over the peoples" (60:2a NIV). Jesus has vanquished death, therefore His spiritual enemies deceive people into reviving it, and whether those people are innocent or intentional, few realize how they are being used. 

Why do they celebrate death and destruction? Why turn their October lawns and gardens into graveyards? Because, as in the song "Graves into Gardens" by Brandon Lake, Your Jesus does exactly the opposite. Because, in the absence of faith in the Messiah You gave us, they must either try to gain mastery over death themselves or whistle in the dark concerning it. It's as if they're compelled to partner with it, like victims of Stockholm Syndrome. Because without You, it's our default future, and without You, we have nothing that can change that. 

Father, we thank You for the beauty of October. The colors (and my favorite, the magenta of the sumac!), the breezes, the apples, pumpkins, squash. But physical beauty alone can't withstand the darkness. Only You can do that. Isaiah 60:2 continues: "But the Lord rises upon you and His glory appears over you." Only You can break the deep darkness that covers the peoples. 

So we ask for extra light in October, knowing that means "extra You" but not knowing exactly how that will look. Honestly, that is Your business. We ask, You give. We ask in Your will, we receive. So many, many gravitate to "dark" now--dark in general. But You are light, and in You is no darkness at all (1 John 1:5b). I want to walk in the light, and pray that many more will desire the same, so that we will not walk in darkness, but have the light of life. Amen.