When I was a kid, I would watch scary movies with a pillow nearby. When the really scary moments showed up, I would grab that pillow and push my face into it, feeling much safer.
As an adult, I understand that safety from The Scary requires much more than a pillow. The Scary is actually bigger and more complex than moving rock monoliths that would topple and multiply, taking over everything or gelatinous ooze that swallowed up everything it came in contact with.
The Scary includes bills stuffed in a drawer because there’s no money for them and trying to determine if that fever is because of something minor or if it needs medical care. The Scary includes that loved one gripped by addiction, unable to make the right choices for themselves as well as those caught in ongoing abuse by those who declare their love. The Scary involves wondering if we’re a good parent, spouse, or friend.
My reaction as a child is much like what we should be doing when we encounter The Scary now. We should hide—but in the right Place, not behind a pillow. These words attributed to Moses speak of a refuge, a place where one would go to be protected and feel safe. A place to hide.
When The Scary encroaches, we can duck into the one and only truly safe refuge, God. In Him is peace and joy that we can’t comprehend, but we most certainly can sense and long for. The important thing is that we see Him as the only place of refuge from The Scary, not our last resort. Seeking Him is never the least thing as in, “All I can do is pray.” Going to God for wisdom and direction is the safest and best thing we can do when confronted by The Scary.
Stop trying to take it on in your own power, Believer. You say you believe He will take care of you, then you push Him aside and take things on all on your own… until on your own isn’t working and you become a quivering mass of fear and anxiety.
Flip that thinking today. Determine now to do this: when The Scary shows up, regardless what it is, immediately seek God’s will in how to handle it. Trust Him and refuse to act until you know what He wants done, then see Him take action against The Scary and realize how much He loves you, His dear, beloved, protected child with face pressed into the pillow until The Scary is gone.
I think that’s what happens is that we often think we can just take on the world all on our own. We can go and do and be and then The Scary, regardless what it looks like, comes at us and we just we panic, and we freak out, and we don’t know what to do or where to turn or how to handle and it messes us up. Oh, that we would take these words to heart and declare about the Lord that He alone is our refuge. He alone is our place of safety. He is our God. He is our God. And if we will do that, if we will take that to heart, if we will rest in that. We will know how to handle The Scary when it comes at us.
Let me share one one thing with you. Ages ago my husband and I had not been married all that long and he had been laid off from his work. And we had the bills caught up. We had–I had squeaked by and we had a lot of hamburger back then. And it was a lot cheaper then. And I had all the bills paid and it was awesome. I was celebrating it was so great. And then, a bill for our home insurance came in. That was over $100. I didn’t have that much in the bank account.
That was The Scary for that day. I cried. I had no idea where it was going to come from. But I knew that God would provide. Even though I was crying, I was running to him. And lo and behold, God had sent somebody for my husband to work on his vehicle. The vehicle didn’t really need anything done to it. It was basically a look under the hood, a tap here and there, and it was done. And the man wanted to pay my husband. And my husband said, yeah, whatever you think it’s worth, you know, don’t really owe me anything, I didn’t do anything. And the man pressed money into my husband’s hand, and it was the exact amount that we would need for that insurance payment. God had that all figured out before The Scary ever approached. And when we trust in Him, we will see those things happen because we are believing that he is the one and only place of safety. We don’t need to run to other people. We shouldn’t run to social media. We need to run to God. He’s the one. He’s the place. He is it.
I hope that you enjoy these moments when we get together and we look at how scripture applies to our lives in the here and now. And I hope that you will keep coming back. If you are watching on YouTube, I would hope that you would subscribe to my channel. Be sure and hit the bell so that you get notifications when these are uploaded. And let’s see. What else am I supposed to tell you? Oh, have a fabulous, wonderful day. Trust in God, he’s got you.
Coffee, Bible, Journal.
