(Gen 6:4) There were giants on the earth in those days . . .
Monsters. You either love them or hate them. You love them because they represent fun and scaring other people. You hate them because they are so creepy and unpredictable. When I was a kid I saw all those old monster movies and loved the goose bumps I would feel when the weird “whatever” would go after people. But then I would go to bed and have to close the closet door and keep my arm from dangling off the side of the bed for fear of monsters lurking.
Monsters can be so real. One time after watching a monster movie I fell asleep in my bed. I woke up to the sound of giant footsteps outside my window. I was frightened beyond belief. I was paralyzed and couldn’t move a cat’s whisker. I looked over at my brother sleeping unaffected and somehow closed my eyes and pretended I heard nothing. Eventually I fell asleep. The next morning I went outside to search for footprints by my window and was totally shocked that I found none. I was embarrassed to tell my mom, but eventually I did, and she said what I heard was the Disneyland fireworks going off that sounded like the footsteps of a monster. I still wasn’t convinced. For months I would look for signs of that monster but there never was one scrap of evidence.
Monsters represent fears in our lives. They are big and ugly and all they want to do is harm you. They come out of nowhere and seek to carry you away into a dark forest where they will eat you one bite at a time. The Bible calls it a spirit of fear. (2 Tim 1:7) For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.
So how can you overcome that monster of fear in your life?
- POWER: Make God bigger than your fears, because He is! (Psa 34:3) Oh, magnify the Lord with me…
- LOVE: He loves you and has your best interest at stake at all times. (1 John 4:18) There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love.
- SOUND MIND: Think about the Lord instead of your fears. Faith or fear. Worship or worry. (Isa 26:3) You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You.
Sometimes I drive by the old family house and laugh at that memory. Maybe some day I’ll stop by when no one’s home and see if I was right. Just kidding! (Mark 11:22) “Have faith in God . . .
Louie