I don't watch much afternoon television. We don't get many channels and most of the time, those few channels aren't showing what I consider to be entertainment. Today, however, I was just letting it run... and Dr. Phil came on. The preview caught my attention, so I watched a bit of it (it was a re-run).
The first bit was about a woman who lives in constant fear when at home that someone will break into her house and harm her. It wasn't quite so bad until her husband got a job that required him to be gone for a few weeks at a time. Since that time, as he stated on the show, he's spent over $16,000 on all kinds of things in hopes of making her "feel safe". The worst is when she showers. Let me set this up for you... every time she showers she:
*Locks and puts door jams on her bedroom door and bathroom door
*She has 2 Dobermans sitting outside her bathroom door
*She sets an alarm inside of her bathroom
*She pulls out a .38 handgun as well as a stun-gun and places them on the toilet along with a remote panic button (to call the police), a flashlight, and her cell phone
*Only uses a clear shower curtain so she can see the door at all times in case someone starts coming through
I might've forgotten something, but you get the idea. This poor woman couldn't even explain why she was so afraid, except for several scary movies she watched as a child (and no, she never watched "Psycho"). When she was 11 she thought she heard someone breaking into her house, but nothing ever happened. Ever since then, she's been absolutely petrified of being at home alone.
I do not ever want to make light of peoples' fears. Fear is a very real and serious thing... sometimes, even a healthy thing. What I hate to see is when people let fear control their lives (or the lives of the ones around them). We all do it in one way or another.
Ever since I was little (and, unfortunately, even today) I've had to talk myself into "taking care" of this thing or that thing that I was afraid of. I remember telling myself how "silly" I was being for getting so riled up... this was to calm myself down enough to actually take care of whatever it was. This could be anything from being at home alone to killing spiders or snakes to walking in the dark.
But what I've found the most comforting is this: God is in control. While we all know that sometimes, He does allow things to happen, He is still God and He is still good. I choose to trust He will take care of me (using John to do it so much of the time). I will not let myself be controlled by fear if I can help it. "For God did not give us a spirit of fear, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline." - 2 Tim. 1:7
Sometimes, there isn't another person we can turn to when faced with something we sincerely fear. If we choose God every time, asking Him to give us the courage to step out and face that fear (our giant or Goliath, so to speak)... I believe He will give us the strength and the common sense to deal with that fear. And then... each time... the fear will lessen a little more.
The first few years of being with John (dating and married), I had some serious issues about going to his dad's dock at night. During the day, no problem! At night... there are spiders EVERYWHERE!!! I really don't like spiders. They give me the hebejebees. His mom was awesome about my fear... mostly cause she didn't like them either AND because she was just awesome like that. She didn't ever make me feel like I was being silly or anything, but helped me keep away from them all the same. Instead of stamping my foot like a child and telling John I'm never going down there (because of snakes OR spiders... two things I do fear), I've gone, year after year... day and night. And you know what? Instead of it being a place I don't want to be (because of fear), I love it there! I can be around the spiders and let them live. I can know there are probably snakes around and be at peace (well, to an extent). But my point is that I wouldn't be at that point now, had I not taken steps, year after year, to get there.
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