Striking Matches in the Dark

There’s a strange comfort in busy work. When life leaves us with unanswered questions or unresolved tensions, we instinctively reach for something—anything—that feels like progress. For many of us, that looks like mental “busy work.” We rehearse conversations. We run scenarios. We dig into the past to make sense of it all. Each attempt feels like striking another match in the dark: a quick flare of light, a momentary illusion of clarity, followed by smoke and more darkness.

The trouble is, matches don’t last. They were never meant to light the way. They only burn us out. The more we strike, the more we fill the air with smoke, the harder it becomes to breathe, and the less we can actually see.

As a counselor, I’ve watched people come in exhausted not from the weight of their circumstances, but from the sheer energy spent striking matches in their minds. “What if I had said this?” “Why did they do that?” “Maybe if I just…” The mental replay is endless. The more they try to solve the unsolvable, the less peace they have. It’s not the wound that’s killing them; it’s the smoke from all those matches.

Scripture reminds us that true light doesn’t come from our effort but from the Lord Himself: “The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear?” (Psalm 27:1). Our restless attempts to “figure it out” can’t pierce the darkness because they were never designed to. What we need is not another match, but the steady flame of God’s presence.

Faith often looks like putting the matches down. It’s resisting the urge to manufacture light on our own and instead standing still long enough to realize that God has already placed a lamp at our feet (Psalm 119:105). His Word, His Spirit, His promises—they do not flicker and fade. They are constant, steady, trustworthy.

So the next time you feel the itch to strike another match in the dark, pause. Breathe. Pray. Remember that you don’t have to produce your own light. The Light of the World already dwells with you and in you. That’s not a flicker. That’s a fire that cannot be extinguished.