Under The Bed Or In Our Head?

I must admit that I am feeling rather listless right now. A few days after loosing my father I feel quite disjointed. Sunken. Scatterbrain. Out of phase. Caught in neutral between the joy of youth in the 1970's-1980's and the pain of loss today. The sun seems too bright right now. The sky is crystal blue but life seems to be casting shadows at high noon on a cloudless afternoon. I am going through life in rewind but standing still. I know better days are coming. Rejoicing comes in the morn.

For his anger lasts only a moment,
but his favor lasts a lifetime;
weeping may stay for the night,
but rejoicing comes in the morning.
Psalm 30:5

Do you remember long ago when you were a child? You awoke in the middle of the night and saw those dreadful shadows that lingered on the wall? They were cast by the moon light shining through the trees outside your window and silhouetting them on the wall of your bedroom? The fear of the unknown monster under your bed. You were afraid to put you feet on the floor until morning. Those monsters that your parents told you were not real eventually disappeared because they were not real. They were replaced with real monsters or should I say monstrosities of your own making from sin.

Now you are God's grown child. You still wake at night though. Fearful shapes are cast on your mind. Worry, fear, guilt, sin...and you cry, "Father Father help me, am afraid!". These demons that haunt you, these fears are just as real as the shadows you saw as a child and the unknown "thingy" that tormented you as a child under the bed or in your closet. Satan and the evil or this world loves to play on your doubts and fear of the unknown and spin them into some type of phantasm. The Bible is clear what you are suppose to do in these situations.

"For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ." 2 Corinthians 3-5

We are to take these phantasms and chimera captive and pull or put them down so they can do no damage. Sometimes these phantasms and chimera are more then they appear. God holds out His hand and says, "Fear not my child for I am with you." There is nothing to be afraid of! God shall remove all the tears.

How free of worry, strife and sorrow would your life be if you would only hand it over to God. Your life is weighed down with these things because you do not trust to turn them over to God. There is nothing too large or too small that God will not take on for you if you would only call on Him. Call on His name. Jesus.

Do not shut yourself up in your fears! No! Do not shut yourself up in your sorrows and sadness. Go...GO!!! Go forth into the world with your work. Even with a listless and dragging spirit. It is in the work and service of others and in the sympathy for others suffering that God's comfort lies. It is in this paradox, in these types of situations that we are confronted and shown face-to-face the humanity within us all. In these situations it cannot be avoided. Having suffered ourselves and then we see others suffer the same way we respond...in mercy. It is in this response that we begin to become sanctified and more like Christ...

Mercy...merciful...because we can...because we choose to not because we are made to. In this free will volitional act we become more holy.

We make this monsters powerless and harmless by turning them over to God. We remove the power they have over us by turning to God. These monsters whether they are imagined or real cannot stand in the face and presence of an Almighty God. Do not be intimidated. Do not be afraid. Just like the movie Monsters, Inc. these things under the beds in our lives get their power from our fears. God has made it clear, we are not to be afraid. He is in control. He didn't say easy, He said do not be afraid. We need to hand these ornery brutes over to God to tame them and make them serve us not let us serve them.

"Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.” Joshua 1:9