Angel is our little Pomeranian. She’s a sweet dog, obedient, and good with people. But Angel has her quirks. Every time I take the vacuum cleaner from the closet she runs to the back door, dances around in circles and barks to be let outside.
She’s also afraid of thunderstorms. We know when a storm is brewing before the local weatherman does. Angel begins to shake and pant in such a way you think she’s going to hyperventilate. No matter how we try to calm or comfort her, she can’t let go of her fright until the storm passes. That’s not all.
She nearly has a nervous breakdown each year during Forth of July. In fact, whenever there’s loud noise, Angel scurries across the floor as fast has her little legs will take her and hides. She wasn’t always like this. Angel use to be as carefree as puppies go until… someone got to her. And that someone was my mother-in-law.
I was away at an event. My husband was at work. My mother-in-law was at our house waiting on the bus to bring the kids home from school. But the kids didn’t come home this day. They were in lock down due to the horrific weather. Several tornados had been stopped in the area.
Back at the house, my mother-in-law grabbed Angel, ran to the nearest bathroom and got into the tub until it was safe to come out. Thankfully, the tornado passed over our home. Others were not as lucky.
Later, when it was all over and everyone was safe, she told us how frightened she was.
“I’d never heard the wind so loud before,” she explained. “I thought a tornado was really going to hit the house. I held onto Angel as tight as I could and screamed until the noise passed and the wind had calmed.”
No wonder Angel is afraid of storms and loud noises. I would be too if I had gone through such a traumatic experience with Me-maw! (smiles)
Poor Angel. No matter how we try to care for her, she runs and hides.
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You might say a similar thing happened to Adam and Eve. Here were two people that enjoyed an intimate relationship with God. They walked with Him in the cool of the day. They depended on Him for their every care and need. Life was good. Delightful. Fulfilling. Safe. Joyous. Until… someone got to them. That someone was Satan.
Satan convinced Adam and Eve that if they disobeyed God and ate of the tree of good and evil, their eyes would be open and they would be like God (Gen 3:5).
So Eve took a bite of the fruit turned to Adam and said, “Here, dummy. Eat this.” And Adam responded, “Okay.”
Once their eyes were open, they hid themselves among the bushes. When God called to Adam, “Where are you?”
Adam replied in a timid voice, “I heard you coming and I was afraid and hid because I was naked” (Genesis 3:10-11).
Right there in the garden, Satan introduced fear in the form of a lie.
“You will be like God.”
Satan had gotten to them. His lie drew them away from God and into sin.
Ever since we’ve been afraid and hiding from God and His care too. No matter how God tries to comfort us, provide us with peace and protection from life’s storms, we hold tight to fear allowing it to steal our joy and trust in God.
Food For Thought:
When was the first time you recall being afraid?
Do you run from or hide your fears? If so, why?
Truth To Remember:
Fear doesn’t come from God.
“For God did not give us the spirit of fear, but of love, power and self-discipline” (1 Tim 2:7).
monica says
Loved the teaching! The bit about your mother in law really brings to notice how our attitudes and behaviors can seriously impact others in a dramatic way without us even being aware of it! Thanks for this, it was just what I needed.
p.s. I believe you inadvertently flipped the numbers… that last scripture should be 2 Tim 1:7
Micca says
Thanks, Monica.