I had a dilemma and I had to choose: Do I scream and wake up everyone or get closer and see if it moves? The house was dark, lit only by a closet light from a bedroom. The baby was crying and, at that moment, I kind-of wanted to do the same. How could there be a snake in our house???
Faced with the harsh reality that our tiny tot would not stop crying any more than my husband would stop snoring, I decided to press on. I said a quick prayer that the snake wouldn't move too fast and against all the warnings not to run when face to face with a wild creature, I sprinted past that slithery, slimy thing.
It didn't move. It DIDN'T move. IT DIDN'T MOVE!
For a brief moment, I became fearless and crept closer. Um, wait. Why was the creature not moving? Asleep? Dead?!? Fake??? Oh, none of the above...it's a STETHOSCOPE. Yep, the thing that nurses and doctors use to make sure our hearts are healthy, just about gave me a heart attack at 3:00 this morning.
The weird thing is, I don't remember the stethoscope being there at 1:00 in the morning when I woke up to - shocker! - a crying baby. Which probably means a child woke up at some point and carried it into the living room and dropped it just waiting for the moment that Mommy would shreak and wake up the entire house. Or, because that said child sleeps with the most random items and probably dropped it on the way to our bedroom where she would crawl into our bed and play another riveting game of "Let's see which parent I can push off the bed first" for the remainder of the night. Why does she insist on doing that?? And, why is our 13 month old STILL waking up so much at night? Ah, the answer to those questions is a post all in itself.
OK...there is a point to all of this. So, back to the snake...er, stethoscope. After making my valiant discovery, I kind-of laughed at myself as I walked into the nursery and picked up my son. And as he stopped crying, I started thinking. Because, who can actually think when a baby is screaming at the top of his lungs just because he wants to be held??
Anyway, I thought about fear, and darkness, and how things can appear so much worse when we can't see clearly. In my mind, that stethoscope was going to attack me...bite me...kill me. Or go and eat my children while they slept defenselessly in their beds. (Yes, I do know from who my daughter gets her flare for the dramatic side...thank you very much).
That fear that I face, you know it's not from God, right? You know what else? That fear you face right now, it's not from God either. It's easy to laugh about something like a stethoscope being perceived as a snake, but it's not so easy to laugh about our other fears. When the fear is about a doctor's report, if you will be able to make ends meet this month, a wayward child, an ailing loved one, a lost job, fertility issues...the list is endless...it's not funny. I get it. It's painful. It's horrible. It's not at all joke worthy. But...BUT...we can face that "thing" that scares us the most and proudly proclaim that what we "see" is not at all what it really is.
After I laid a sleeping little boy back in his crib, I kicked that stethoscope out of the way and thought to myself, "Take that you crazy snake!" Yes, I needed more sleep but I actually did that for a reason. It was a deliberate act of reminding myself that things are not always how they appear. That diagnosis, negative checking account, impossible relationship issue, or dashed dream is not larger than life because we serve a God who already knew we'd be dealing with this, and HE is larger than it all.
Easy to say, not so easy to always put in practice.
That's why there are dozens of verses about fear and worrying in the Bible. God knew we would all need reassurance along the way. I can say from experience that when I cling to Him, when I repeat His words over and over again, when I communicate with Him, He becomes my focus and my troubles become clearer. Suddenly, that mountain turns into a mole hill again as I trust in Him. When I try to do things in my own strength...that is when everything gets muddled and ugly and despair sets in.
So, can I encourage you to join me today in turning our scary issues over to Him?
Jesus, with a humble and thankful heart, I come to you this morning on behalf of those who will read this post. Lord, you know the struggles we face. You know the pain that my friend faces as she wonders how her mom will handle aggressive breast cancer. You know the woman who worries about her relationship with her spouse. The family who is praying that their child's cancer will stop growing. The couple praying for a son who has lost his way. The willing servants who are trying to figure out how they are going to make ends meet as they follow your will for their lives. The friends who are just tired...weary...worn out from life's daily struggles. You know the people who are facing issues that they just can't even talk about. Father, you see it ALL. I pray that you help all of us to look up to You today. I pray that as we look to You, our fear will be replaced with peace. Agony will be replaced with joy. Hearts will be mended and relationships restored. We thank you that your perfect love can cast out all fear. Thank you that you are a good, loving Father who holds us close in life's toughest moments...who gently reminds us that we are Yours. We praise you for how you are working in all of our situations. And, I personally thank you for using that silly little stethoscope to help me remember your promises. In your name we pray, Amen.
Matthew 6:
Faced with the harsh reality that our tiny tot would not stop crying any more than my husband would stop snoring, I decided to press on. I said a quick prayer that the snake wouldn't move too fast and against all the warnings not to run when face to face with a wild creature, I sprinted past that slithery, slimy thing.
It didn't move. It DIDN'T move. IT DIDN'T MOVE!
For a brief moment, I became fearless and crept closer. Um, wait. Why was the creature not moving? Asleep? Dead?!? Fake??? Oh, none of the above...it's a STETHOSCOPE. Yep, the thing that nurses and doctors use to make sure our hearts are healthy, just about gave me a heart attack at 3:00 this morning.
The weird thing is, I don't remember the stethoscope being there at 1:00 in the morning when I woke up to - shocker! - a crying baby. Which probably means a child woke up at some point and carried it into the living room and dropped it just waiting for the moment that Mommy would shreak and wake up the entire house. Or, because that said child sleeps with the most random items and probably dropped it on the way to our bedroom where she would crawl into our bed and play another riveting game of "Let's see which parent I can push off the bed first" for the remainder of the night. Why does she insist on doing that?? And, why is our 13 month old STILL waking up so much at night? Ah, the answer to those questions is a post all in itself.
OK...there is a point to all of this. So, back to the snake...er, stethoscope. After making my valiant discovery, I kind-of laughed at myself as I walked into the nursery and picked up my son. And as he stopped crying, I started thinking. Because, who can actually think when a baby is screaming at the top of his lungs just because he wants to be held??
Anyway, I thought about fear, and darkness, and how things can appear so much worse when we can't see clearly. In my mind, that stethoscope was going to attack me...bite me...kill me. Or go and eat my children while they slept defenselessly in their beds. (Yes, I do know from who my daughter gets her flare for the dramatic side...thank you very much).
That fear that I face, you know it's not from God, right? You know what else? That fear you face right now, it's not from God either. It's easy to laugh about something like a stethoscope being perceived as a snake, but it's not so easy to laugh about our other fears. When the fear is about a doctor's report, if you will be able to make ends meet this month, a wayward child, an ailing loved one, a lost job, fertility issues...the list is endless...it's not funny. I get it. It's painful. It's horrible. It's not at all joke worthy. But...BUT...we can face that "thing" that scares us the most and proudly proclaim that what we "see" is not at all what it really is.
After I laid a sleeping little boy back in his crib, I kicked that stethoscope out of the way and thought to myself, "Take that you crazy snake!" Yes, I needed more sleep but I actually did that for a reason. It was a deliberate act of reminding myself that things are not always how they appear. That diagnosis, negative checking account, impossible relationship issue, or dashed dream is not larger than life because we serve a God who already knew we'd be dealing with this, and HE is larger than it all.
Easy to say, not so easy to always put in practice.
That's why there are dozens of verses about fear and worrying in the Bible. God knew we would all need reassurance along the way. I can say from experience that when I cling to Him, when I repeat His words over and over again, when I communicate with Him, He becomes my focus and my troubles become clearer. Suddenly, that mountain turns into a mole hill again as I trust in Him. When I try to do things in my own strength...that is when everything gets muddled and ugly and despair sets in.
So, can I encourage you to join me today in turning our scary issues over to Him?
Jesus, with a humble and thankful heart, I come to you this morning on behalf of those who will read this post. Lord, you know the struggles we face. You know the pain that my friend faces as she wonders how her mom will handle aggressive breast cancer. You know the woman who worries about her relationship with her spouse. The family who is praying that their child's cancer will stop growing. The couple praying for a son who has lost his way. The willing servants who are trying to figure out how they are going to make ends meet as they follow your will for their lives. The friends who are just tired...weary...worn out from life's daily struggles. You know the people who are facing issues that they just can't even talk about. Father, you see it ALL. I pray that you help all of us to look up to You today. I pray that as we look to You, our fear will be replaced with peace. Agony will be replaced with joy. Hearts will be mended and relationships restored. We thank you that your perfect love can cast out all fear. Thank you that you are a good, loving Father who holds us close in life's toughest moments...who gently reminds us that we are Yours. We praise you for how you are working in all of our situations. And, I personally thank you for using that silly little stethoscope to help me remember your promises. In your name we pray, Amen.
Matthew 6:
25“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? 26Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 27Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your lifee ?
28“And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 30If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? 31So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.
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