Veggie Tales and Fear

Through my life, fear has been a companion of mine--not a friend, but more like a ball and chain.

At times, fear has immobilized me--kept me from going to the places God has wanted me to go, and/or saying the things He has wanted me to say. It has wasted my days--dragged me down, so I missed the joy and peace that my Lord wanted me to receive.

When God has freed me of that fear, my life feels like a prisoner's reprieve and a soaring eagle, all wrapped up into one joyous package. Freedom from fear--fear of cancer, fear of the death of a loved one, fear of what others think, fear of failure, and on and on--is the life that God intended me to live when He became the Lord of my life, Savior of my eternity, and forever Friend.

Today--I was reminded of that consuming fear that controlled my life for so long. As I was helping with childcare for Mom-time at church, I watched as a little guy, about 4 years old, experienced fear. We played a DVD for the last few minutes before the moms came for pick-up, and it happened to be a Veggie Tales movie.

For some reason, our little guy was terrified as soon as the Larry and Bob started doing their thing. He stood in front of the TV--with terror filled eyes (I am not exaggerating), screamed, and refused to look away.

I urged him to look at me, rather than at the TV. As he sat on my lap, I turned the rocking chair the opposite way--and he turned his head to look around the chair so he could stare at the TV and be petrified. I grabbed a book, and said, "Samuel, look at the book. Don't look at the movie."

He just kept looking at the thing that scared him the most. And that is exactly what I used to do. I looked at the scary thing--rather than at the God who would always be with me and never leave me, no matter what the circumstance.

When Samuel kept looking at the talking vegetables, even though they terrified him, it was exactly like me--looking at my worse case scenarios that I concocted in my head.

This is the verse that God used to begin freeing me from the ball and chain of fear, and it all began with my thoughts--and my focus.

Philippians 4:8
Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.