You see, over my lifetime, I have come to realize that there are some things in life that scare me. For example, when my first born son was two years old, we were alone in the apartment and I saw a mouse scamper across the floor. With anxiety in my heart and a squeal in my voice, I grabbed up my son and climbed to the top of the table. It was there that my husband found us when he arrived home some time later.
Another time recently that fear met me face to face was when I came into the church office to work. As I turned on the lights and went towards the copy room, I saw something move out of the corner of my eye. As I looked down to the floor, I saw what looked like a long rope resting up against the floor board. As I approached closer, I realized then what I saw moving was indeed that “rope”! How quickly I was able to run and shut the door to keep that snake from getting me.
As I think about these two personal face to face experiences with fear, I realize that I had a decision to make in both cases. One of us had to go! No snake and no mouse could live in the same house as me!
Fear can be a powerful thing; it can override normal logical thinking and it can produce irrational behavior. (like staying on top of a table for hours). I am thankful that because of God, I do not have to let fear (or anything else) rule my actions. The Psalmist reassures me that…
“Whenever I am afraid, I will trust in God.” (Psalm 56:3There are some things in life that can grip us with fear. Some things are much scarier than a loose mouse or a slithering snake. Cancer is scary. Dying is scary. Divorce is scary. Losing a job is scary. Not knowing where your next dollar will come from is scary. But God does not want us to be scared, He wants us to trust Him!)
“Trust the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding.” (Proverbs 3:5So today, right this moment as you read this, I have faced my fear. No, I didn’t have a mouse or a snake come across my path. Today I have put my trust in the Lord and in a team of surgeons to reconstruct my hand. You see, for several years I have had arthritis and wear and tear of constant rotation of my hand in my line of business has took a toll on my joints. In the past year or so, my condition has progressed to the point that I am in pain 24/7, unable to do everyday things like cutting, writing, buttoning my shirt and opening my water bottle. Enduring the pain everyday seemed easier than overcoming my fear of losing my hand all together. But today, I have overcome that fear.
There are so many things in life that I do not understand; like why do people die from cancer? Why do people hurt innocent children? Why are people so mean spirited? And why, Lord, do I have to endure this pain? These things and more may not be God’s plan for us to understand. In fact, He doesn’t ask us to understand it but to simply trust Him.
Today I have decided that both fear and I cannot live at the same house. One of us has to go and it isn’t gonna be me. And it isn’t gonna be the Lord!
So long Fear!
**I will not be able to write any devotions for the next month or so as I recover from my hand reconstruction surgery. Your prayers and support are appreciated and I look forward to telling the “rest of my story”. ((hugs))
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