Look
at that worried little face. Sad, isn’t
it? Don’t you just wanna cuddle him and
say “don’t worry baby, everything will be
alright”?
Have
you ever heard the story about a guy who was terrified of monsters under his
bed? He spent many years and many
dollars being treated by a psychologist, but it was no good. He was still afraid of monsters. One day, he went into a bar and told his fearful
woes to the bartender who promptly told him, “well, just cut the legs off
the bed!”
Problem
solved! I wonder … can all fears be dissolved
that easily? Well, one way is to
consider that not all fears will necessarily materialize. As a wise old fortune cookie once said, “fear is interest paid on a debt you may not
owe.”
But
seriously, how does one “cut the legs” off of fear? Especially in today’s world, with many national
leaders sporting dubious hairdos and formidable rhetoric, and volcanoes, and freakish
activities on airplanes, and asteroids with murder on their minds, and people’s
“identity” du’jours, and the threats of becoming cashless, not to mention no
more cursive writing, oh my, I can feel my nerves tightening up and my gut
dancing an evil jig and …..
Okay,
hold it right there, knock it off. What’s
needed here is not a contemptible collage of catastrophes, but rather a superlative
soliloquy of Sovereignty. In other
words, the Big Picture. I love to sit
and ponder Daniel’s perspective. He wasn’t
freaked out by who was the king (Daniel 2:20-22). He understood potential terror, because he stood
in the middle of it (Daniel 3:13-27).
Through everything, he proclaimed God’s sovereignty. The apostle Paul certainly
endured circumstances that will (probably) never be ours (2 Corinthians
11:23-29). But to the end, he proclaimed
the Kingdom of God (Acts 28:23).
Jesus
repeatedly told His disciples to “fear
not, it is I (literally, “I Am”). He
is all that’s needed for the Big Picture.
My gracious,
loving, and omnipotent Father, thank You for giving me the proper
perspective: don’t look under the
bed, but look up, towards You.
Rejoice and don’t be anxious, why?
Because my Jesus is near and so is Your peace! (Philippians 4:4-7). I’ve read the end of Your Book, and You win,
and it’s permanent, for all eternity. As
I walk through this life and trip myself up on circumstances, please help my
unbelief, instead fixing my hope on You. How
dinky and unimportant things on this earth appear when I lean into Your secure
arms and believe Your promises.
