How did that beast squeeze through our doggy door? Every hair on my body was at attention as adrenaline prickled under my skin like a thousand needles. The creature waltzed with such confidence across the room, like it owned the place, I wondered if this was a daily occurrence? Come to think of it, my dog certainly wasn’t growling for territory. And as luck would have it, I was home alone. No husband to pass the buck to, and no children to force me to feign the role of fearless SuperMom.
However, there was NO WAY I could avoid the situation, because this monster was not going to leave on its own. I had to act fast, as I might lose track of its whereabouts, but my mind was dizzy from a lack of breathing. The image of this demonic thing crawling into bed with me tonight snapped me into sobriety as I grappled with my options. All roads led to one…KILL THE SPIDER!
WHY WAS THE BUG SPRAY IN THE KITCHEN?? I had to pass under the vile thing to get to the can! No way. I’m sure that was its plan, anyway. He looked smug over the kitchen entrance, sharpening his vampire fangs, no doubt so he could to sink his venom into my central nervous system. You can’t fool me, buddy. I’m waaaaay smarter than you….You’re goin’ DOWN!
Get the hairspray! Although, I wasn't sure a can would be enough. Maybe I could alight it like a torch?? That sounded perfectly sane to me. Drat. Once again, the matches were in the kitchen. Mental note: If I live through this, ask husband to plan out a more widespread spider arsenal.
I’m gonna need to go Rambo-style. Up close and personal. I bolted for my closet. Nope not that shoe, I just bought those, and even paid full price. Come to think of it, none of my shoes could I bear to sacrifice for this anachrocide. I ran to my kids room; they’ll never know. Wait a minute…this guy is too big. I’m going to need the most surface area possible. Zipping back to my bedroom, this time I plundered my husband’s shoe lot. It’s the least he could offer up for not being here to be my Knight to slay the dragon.
Armed with a large boot in each hand, I crept back toward the spider’s last known location. HE WAS GONE!! Oh sweet Jesus, give me eyes to see. A blur of fur caught the corner of my eye and I spun around with a battle cry as I hurled my weapons in its direction. Bulls Eye! Oh wait. That was just my Shih Tzu. Sorry, Lacey…I’ll check on that paw in just a sec.
A chair behind me fell over, and I knew that was my enemy getting careless. BINGO! He was behind the chair! Reloaded with my boots in hands and fueled by mighty doses of adrenaline, I charged toward that spider with ruthless abandon. I smashed it, and smashed it again, checked to make sure it was all dead (not mostly dead), and then smashed it several more times.
I dreaded the thought of cleaning up the gory mess of it all. But when I investigated, I was shocked to see his demise had barely made a mark in our carpet. Huh. I looked closer at the bottom of my husband’s boot. Interesting. Now that it was all dead, and my sanity had returned, I painfully had to admit that perhaps, I had blown the whole ordeal a teeeeeeensy bit out of proportion. Maybe the spider was not big enough to merit a hairspray torch. Perhaps I could have gotten by with one of my children’s shoes. OK…maybe the stupid thing was even too small to get cast in a music video for The Itsy Bitsy Spider.
This is me. Leader of the Fearless 365 Campaign. And this may or may not have happened last week. Let me assure you…we’re in this fearless thing together.
You’ve probably heard the acronym FEAR = False Evidence Appearing Real. Fear does crazy things to our minds and helps us to imagine the ultimate worst case scenario…even when that scenario is utterly impossible. MOST of what we fear never comes to pass, but we get so caught up in the tornado of emotion and worry, we stop thinking logically and find ourselves reaching to light a hairspray torch.
The Fearless 365 Week Three Challenge: Look Again. Just like it took a second look to see that my spider threat was not racoon-sized, but actually just the normal spider size, we need to take a second look at the fears that haunt us. How many of those anxieties are actually the size we are making them in our hearts and minds? Probably almost none of them. It’s the shadows of our fears that cascade up the walls of our imaginations that we need to be the most wary of.
Last week, our challenge was to run to our God to be filled with the power of His Spirit. As you allow His Spirit to permeate your soul...that prayer I prayed above with the spider? It’s the perfect prayer for real: “Oh sweet Jesus, give me eyes to see.” Ask God to show you how to look directly at those fears with eyes of faith, eyes of power, eyes of trust. I guarantee, as you sit with the magnificent God of the Universe, knowing He is on your side, those monsters will be reduced to their proper proportion…a crushed enemy under your feet.
Isaiah 41:10 (Amplified Version) "Fear not! There is nothing to fear, for I am with you; do not look around you in terror and be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen and harden you to difficulties, yes, I will help you; yes, I will hold you up and retain you with My victorious right hand of rightness and justice."
