My youngest daughter is afraid of flies. Although she has an
aversion to all creepy crawlies, from bugs to spiders, to ants and
caterpillars, she is most afraid of flies. If she sees one in the house, peace
is shattered, screams commence, and she runs to the shelter of my arms or her
mother’s arms, depending on who is in closer proximity to her.
If you’ve never tried to explain why they shouldn’t be afraid
to an almost two-year-old, then you’ve never really had your patience tested.
It doesn’t matter how many times her mother and I insist that there is nothing
to be afraid of, or how many times we show her how to shoo away the fly, all
she knows is that they scare her, and the only place she feels safe when she
sees one is in our arms.
Sooner or later this fear will pass. As she grows, she will
realize that flies really are nothing to be afraid of, but until that time
comes all we can do is consistently remind her, and show her the truth of it.
Because we are the parents, we react differently than she does, and eventually
she will begin to make the connection. She will begin to see that there is no
reason to fear. If she has the same reaction when she is twenty years old as
she does when she is twenty months old, then we will have a problem to be sure.
Even though our heavenly Father has repeatedly told us not to
be afraid, some of us still are. We harbor irrational fears regarding things we
have no control over, and if we fail to consistently return to the Word and be
reminded that we have nothing to fear, we spiral, growing all the more agitated,
until we are robbed of peace and joy in our lives.
From giant solar flares to the reversal of earth’s magnetic
field, to global epidemics, to gamma-ray bursts, to rogue black holes, to the
tried and true asteroid impact, these are just the natural disasters that can
snuff out human existence as we know it. Once we get into all the man-made ways
it the end can come such as nuclear war or random acts of violence, we quickly realize
that just as the flies my daughter is afraid of, there’s just too many to
count. If we gave in to fear every time, we’d all wind up in a dark corner,
sucking our thumbs, never leaving our homes, waiting for the end of the world.
Yes, it can get overwhelming sometimes, and that’s when we
just need a hug from Dad, but as we grow, as we mature past the stage of spiritual
infancy, we do away with these irrational fears, and come to understand that
the only power they have over us is the power we are willing to assign to them.
They’re just flies!
So am I overly concerned about a rogue asteroid, or other
such things? No, because I’m not Bruce Willis, this isn’t a motion picture, and
there is nothing I can do to affect it even if it were a reality. Before we
give in to fear regarding things we can’t control before we allow these things
to consume our time and rob us of our peace, may we remember that there is
shelter in our Father’s arms. Come what may, His will is the best possible
place where you can find yourself, and it is in that fellowship, that intimacy,
that knowledge that He can protect you from the flies, or the asteroids, that
you will rediscover peace.
With love in Christ,
Michael Boldea Jr.
1 comment:
My friend and her husband were in their home when it was hit by a tornado... they had an escape route with "go bags" at the ready, but were unable to get to that exit. They had no time to reach the "safe room" they planned to retreat to, and hunkered down in a hallway, praying that He would keep them safe. When the storm passed and they emerged, they soon realized what an awesome God we serve - the only part of the roof that remained attached was the section directly above the hallway!
Lesson learned? Our God will protect us right were we are (as long as we are depending on Him :-)
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