The lion under my bed

One of my childhood memories is cowering in my little twin-size bed at night, terrified that there was indeed a lion crouched underneath, ready to pounce if I so much as put a single foot on that cold bare wood floor.

To qualm my fears, my grandmother would leave on the closet light.  But fear is the most creative of all the emotions.  Even that tiny line of light and shadow often grew into something equally scary.

I lost a lot of sleep that way.

And I think of the ridiculous things that still wake me in the night.

Am I still fearful about imaginary monsters under my proverbial bed, ready to pounce through the shadows?  An awkward social situation, words I should have said -- or left unsaid, things I should have done -- and left undone, my feet unable to run, still bound by barbed wire that doesn't even exist?

"Fear not.  Be not afraid."  God repeats that phrase over and over.  Because when Eve ate that apple, sin alone did not enter the world.  Fear did.  

In His Word, the LORD reminds me that He has already overcome anything that I can possibly fear.  It is not that I am a super hero, but He is the supernatural One, my strength and deliverance.  There is a reason why He is called Savior, not just to save us from our sins which are many, but to save us from the enslavement of fear.  God does not just release us;  He breaks out the teeth that grip us, turning that lion into a big kitten, turning my fear into turning me toward Him.

Worry never works things out

                        or gives me strength.

Worry always robs me blind

        and leaves me destitute on the side of the road.

Worry shuts out the light

             on the deeper work God is doing.

The LORD is the One

   Who gives power and strength.

And He says to me,

"What if you trusted Me in this,

                and how would you do it,

      if there was nothing to fear?"

Rebuke the beasts

   that dwell among the reeds.

                     Psalm 68. 30