Monsters Under My Bed

Do you remember when you were a child laying in your bed in the dark of night? Do you remember a sense of paralyzing fear that suddenly swept over you? Did you ever feel so afraid that you literally could not move because you thought that if you did, the monster under your bed would reach out and grab you? Did you have irrational fears like this, or is this something that only happened to me? My guess is that all children experience this kind of fear. And, at the time, it feels very real and it is incredibly paralyzing.

The funny thing is, I think as adults we still experience fear like this. Only, now as adults, we have become better at dismissing and camouflaging our fear. We still get paralyzed by it, only we call it different names like indecisiveness (fear of making the wrong decision), procrastination (fear to move forward), acrophobia (fear of heights), and the list goes on and on. Some people even have a phobia of religion and churches. It is called, Theophobia. There are so many phobias! And at the root of everyone of them is a deep sense of fear and lack of control. Fear that wraps it's tentacles around our heart and grips it tight. Fear that could eat us alive, if we let it.

The Bible tells us over and over....

DO NOT FEAR!

"Fear not, for I am with thee; be not dismayed; for I am thy God; I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with my right hand of righteousness." ~Isaiah 41:10

Did you know that there is one fear that does not have a phobia label attached to it and the Bible encourages us to embrace it?

It is the fear of God.

This is the only reasonable and healthy fear (more like reverence) we should ever have.

"The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding." ~Proverbs 9:10

"Through love and faithfulness sin is atoned for: through fear of the Lord evil is avoided." ~Proverbs 16:6

"Humility is the fear of the Lord; its wages are riches and honor and life." ~Proverbs 22:4

"The fear of the Lord leads to life; then one rests content, untouched by trouble." ~Proverbs 19:23

The fear of the Lord is the starting point to all things wise. We must embrace this deep reverence of God and stand firm in Him. From there, we can enter into His presence. As we enter, He takes our hand and leads us out of all our fear. We can't step away from fear on our own, with our eyes on ourselves. Our faith must become action as we look up and believe that He is bigger than all of our fear. We can't look at others and compare how they are being lead, or assume that we should do what they are doing. We each can only fix our eyes for ourselves on our Promise Keeper. As we gaze on His goodness with trust, He leads us along the path that He designed just for us. It is a path that always leads us away from fear.

Prayer

Heavenly Father,

Thank you for your promise to never leave us. Thank you that YOU hold us with Your righteous right hand. When our hearts become gripped with fear, remind us of your many faithful promises. Remind us to fix our eyes on you, not on the fear that taunts us. Replace our unholy fears with a healthy fear of the Lord.

In Jesus Name