Fears

Things I fear:

-That if I am anywhere near a bursting balloon, a piece of rubber will fly into my face and put my eye out.

-That the finial of a nearby umbrella will put my eye out.

-That my hand will be in the garbage disposal when it is turned on.

-That I will pull a fire alarm I happen to be passing, even with no fire.

-That the WSM radio tower in Brentwood will fall over and crush my car as I drive by on I-65.

My fears seem silly until you consider that I was raised to be afraid.  My parents wouldn’t even allow me to go ice-skating with friends when I was a senior in high school—a senior–out of fear that I would fall and break my arm.

Can’t play piano with a broken arm, you know.

When I was in kindergarten, I colored and cut out a life-size picture of myself.  After my teacher finished displaying the picture in the classroom, I brought it home and taped it to the closet door, just across from the foot of my bed.  At night I would go into a panic because I could see someone coming out of the closet.  It never occurred to me that I was afraid of a picture of myself.  In the dark, all I could see was the outline—which didn’t look a thing like me.  I was too terrified to call my parents or even my sister in her bed a few feet away.  My remedy, my salvation, was my bed sheet.  I would pull it over my head and tuck it all around me, not leaving a fraction of an inch where anything could slip under—not even a vaporous ghost.  Only when I was securely tucked could I finally fall asleep.

My childish way of dealing with fear was as preposterous as the fear itself.

I have since learned that “God hath not given us a spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.”  (2 Timothy 1:7 KJV)

I trust that God is in control and that He will not allow more to befall me than what He is able to walk me through.

I believe that with all my heart.

However…I still flinch around umbrellas and balloons, I have to remind myself to ignore fire alarms and radio towers, and I approach the kitchen sink with caution.

Never can be too careful….