Read more of Ann’s contributions to allmomdoes here.
Recently, I had a mouse in my house.
Normally, I think mice are pretty cute. But, not when they’re scurrying around my feet!
I have a go-to move when faced with small, furry things running around the floor. I jump on the nearest piece of furniture, scream like a banshee and yell every swear word that comes to mind. Seriously, mice and my potty mouth seem to have a direct connection.
And, it turns out that mice are unimpressed by my screams and lame use of bad language. This little guy just sat and stared at me before he disappeared underneath the couch (where I imagine he had a condo set up).
It turns out that my crazy imagination and a huge amount of fear are also attached to having a mouse in my house. Even though I very kindly opened the back door so the little bugger could leave, he refused. I was quite sure that meant he had plans to attack me instead. My imagination was not helped by my husband who made mouse noises every time I tried to put a foot on the floor.
Since I had to go to bed knowing that the mouse was still in residence, my imagination went into high gear. I pictured him finding his way down the hall and into my room. And, every time my hair tickled my arm I was quite sure he had climbed into bed with me. I was also sure he had invited all his friends in and they were having quite the party in my family room.
Let’s just say I did not get much sleep!
The mouse is gone now, but this experience started me thinking about fear. To be real, the mouse was tiny and it’s doubtful he had any plans to infiltrate my bedroom, yet my fear grew to giant proportions. We are cautioned over 300 times about fear in the Bible (some say the actual number is 365, one for each day of the year). That’s a lot of times. God does not idly warn us about things that don’t matter. He knows that once allowed in, fear grows quickly and can consume us if we’re not careful.
And, that’s what happened to me. I knew my fear was silly, but I still couldn’t seem to loosen the hold it had on me. I laid in bed terrified all night, thinking of really creative and awful scenarios. My night was ruined, the next day was ruined (from lack of sleep) and all because of a small fear that I allowed to grow to a huge size.
“For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.” 2 Timothy 1:7
A sound mind? Not if my thoughts of mice war parties and my dreams of huge, robot mice are to be trusted. So, why did my sound mind disappear and a spirit of fear take over? Because I failed at this:
“When I am afraid, I put my trust in you.” Psalm 56:3
I didn’t trust. I was pretty sure that one small, brown, furry animal had the power to ruin my life. And, it did for a few days. Because, … I let it.
What fears have you let in lately?
