Midnight Enchantment

Inside, my heart beats wildly. Reaching out His hand, He takes mine in His.; Mine fits perfectly, encompassed by the scars that stretch across His palm. Looking into my eyes He says only one thing. Follow me. His eyes alight with the fire of the night, the stars dancing overhead. A thrill of wonder shoots down my spine. Eagerly I take one step forward, then another, each one in sync with His.

Running through the midnight forest, I could feel His love and joy. Breathing deeply, the cool night air fills my lungs. All around crickets chirp, bullfrogs croak, owls question. Where is He taking me? The mystery causes my pace to quicken. But He motions for me to wait, to let Him lead. And so I do.

Eyes wide with anticipation, I look all around. My guide reliable, I worry not where I tread. Vague shapes of trees peek out through the darkness. Overhead, the moon peers through the leaves, basking us in its glow.

His step starts to slow. For a moment He looks back at me as if to say ‘are you ready?’ I pause only for a second before I nod yes. Drawing me close His hands move up my face to cover my eyes. Complete darkness sets in. No longer can I see the stars. No longer can I see His face. I didn’t understand. Why was He hiding Himself? My breathing becomes short and sporadic. Panic sets in. I forget His touch, I forget His nearness. Questions start to fill my mind, pushing out all His joy and love that had earlier filled my senses.

Suddenly He steps in, His voice interceding, commanding the questions to stop. A power, so majestical rang throughout His voice. The blackness disappears. Leaving me once again in His arms.

Swiftly, a jet of shame shot through me. It took only seconds before I doubted Him. One moment, and He was banished from my mind. Hanging my head to my chest, a single tear rolled down my cheek in shame. ‘I’m sorry.’

However, my head did not hang for long. His loving hand cupped my chin, lifting my gaze to His. ‘You are mine. Never am I ashamed of you, my love.’

As He gazed at me, I saw the question again. “Are you ready?”

My reserve was set. ‘Yes.’

Taking a deep breathe, I calmed myself and waited as I felt His hand, once again, cover my eyes. After a moment, He stepped forward, taking me with Him. Noticing my stumble, He slowed, turned around, and walked backwards, letting my feet settle into His footsteps.

After what seemed like eternity, He stopped again. He wished to show me something; He could barely contain His excitement. I could feel it radiating through the air.

Taking His hands from my eyes, He said, “Look what I have made for you.”

I needed not to look at His face to see the smile so evident in His voice. Opening my eyes I looked around. At first, all I could see was darkness. Confused, I kept looking. Then, to my right, a soft glow blinked on, then dissipated. More and more shown everywhere. Small sparkles of light danced all around.

Complete wonder overtook me. Fireflies were everywhere; my own little world of enchantment right at my fingertips. I could not close my eyes for fear I’d blink and it would all be gone. Eyes wide, I tried to take everything in.

Contentment settled deep within my soul. I never wanted to move, never wanted to go back to anything else. For what could ever be as beautiful as this?

A small sigh escaped my lips. Remembering once again who stood beside me, I leaned back and let His arms enfold me.

A swift movement caught my attention. Somewhere among the trees, a shadow drifted in and out. I stiffened. Then I heard His voice. His mouth pressed close to my ear He said, “Watch this.”

And we were off. Reaching for my hand with one of His, He encircled my waist with the other. Swinging me around and around we danced. As we did, a brilliant light shown forth from His face, lighting up the darkness.

The first thing I noticed was that there was not one, but many dark shadows hiding amidst the trees. At first they had seemed to inch closer and closer. But as soon as His light shown forth, they flinched, flinging themselves back into the shadows, as if for cover. Soft hisses of anger could be heard. Their beady little black eyes watched me with hate.

Unsure, I looked up into the eyes of my love. He smiled back at me, reassuring me. He led me around the circle of light, spinning and guiding me. In that moment, I knew He loved me unconditionally. I felt it. His eyes were only for me. A thought suddenly occurred to me. He was showing me off.

Astonishment widened my eyes. Reading the question in my glance, His smile only broadened.

Yes indeed. He was showing me off.

I soon realized that none of the creatures dared get anywhere near His light. It was as if it were death for them. Everything in them screamed out against it. Yet they were powerless to do anything about it. And they knew it. All they could do was sit and watch, as their One enemy paraded by, showing them who it was He loved. Letting them know that I was His. They could not touch me. And they hated it.

I knew that no matter what I did, no matter how hard I fell, or how deep fear enveloped me, He would always claim me. Forever would He tell the world that I was His.