Fear and the vapor lion

I love David Letterman's top ten lists.

If I had to list the top ten things that in the past presented obstacles in my life, fear would probably be number one. No, not probably ... it would be number one.

Let's talk about fear.

It has cold hands and can penetrate to the very core of our souls.

Nickelodeon created the concept of being slimed quite a few years ago. Green, goopy liquid would be dumped on an unsuspecting show member, much to the delight of the audience.

It temporarily immobilized the show member, stunning them, paralyzing them, disorienting them as the slime drenched them.

Fear is much like this.

Fear is like getting slimed.

Which brings me to my next point ... God is anti-slime, anti-fear.

If I understand the Scriptures correctly, God does not want fear to play a part in our lives. Because fear brings all sorts of bad things into our lives, all sorts of counter-productive things into our lives. It imports into our souls the anti-matter of all things good.

It is the devil's slime.

But wait, there's more!

Fear will throw you into a psychological prison where no Christian belongs. Fear will bring out the handcuffs that reach way beyond your wrists all the way into your spirit. Fear will wrap you with steel linen and introduce death where life had previously been, turning you into a mummy, only not of the Egyptian sort.

There is a proverb that states, "There is a man who flees when no lion is pursuing."

Think about this: fear has this man running with all his might away from a chasing lion yet there is no lion. Only a vapor lion that fear has constructed in the man's mind.

Fear is like this. Even when there is nothing to fear, absolutely nothing, it constructs a vapor lion that rears up on its hind legs and roars loudly and ferociously. Fear creates scenarios that paralyze us and off we go running - paralyzed to do anything other than run.

The metaphor of running is very instructive here - when one runs, you really can't do much else simultaneously other than run. You cannot, for example, mow the yard, watch football, attend church, or meet a friend at Starbucks while simultaneously engaged in running - running consumes all your focus and energy.

And there you have it!

Our reaction to fear can crowd everything else out. Our response to fear can render us virtually useless for anything else. Fear can taser us and down we go. The vapor lion can maul us and maul us some more.

But it gets even better!

Fear that is unchecked can force us into a corner and cause us to make poor choices that can have hideous consequences on our lives in the present but especially in the future. Unconfronted fear can cause us to avoid life altogether. Unaddressed fear can cause us to pedal our bicycle with all our might trying to outrun the vapor lion, exhausting us and rendering us ineffective for anything wothwhile.

Finally, fear draws a box around any hope we have, then slowly, ever so slowly, shrinks the box, effectively extinguishing our hope. And when hope is gone, our bridge to anything productive in our lives simply collapses and falls into the river.

Are you someone who runs when no lion is actually chasing?

Have fear and dread hobbled you deep in your spirit?

Has fear become the prison in which you are serving a life sentence?

Here's what I did to banish the vapor lion.

I started by taking deep into my spirit 2 Timothy 1:7 which states that 'God has not given me a spirit of fear but of power, love and a sound mind.'

I meditated on it. I read and re-read and re-read it. I pondered it.

I decided that I needed to believe it. So I began saying it out loud. You will never know how much this simple act helps (until you read a book like Brain Rules that gives a neurosurgeon's view of it).

I determined that fear would not continuously invent vapor lions that kept me running, with all the resultant issues popping up in my life that I have outlined above. My faith in 2 Timothy 1:7 was my vapor lion terminator.

Next, I talked about my struggle with fear with folks that I trusted. That simple act really slammed the cage door on the vapor lion.

Why?

Well, God has so designed our souls and spirits that simply speaking of our struggles with a trusted one is therapeutic to a degree that counseling communities have long acknowledged. Simply speaking of it. Not speaking of it and receiving advice but simply disclosing verbally the inner reality.

Long before Freud developed his psychiatric theories, he was astonished to find that when his patients in his Austrian hospital simply spoke to him of their problems, they got better. He usually only listened. And they got better. Simply by speaking of their issues.

There is a divine magic and power in this simple act.

Do you know someone who struggles with simple everyday fear, panic attacks, dread or phobias? Pray for them in faith and let them read this.

Do you struggle with the same? Do you find yourself fleeing when no lion chases?

Reflect on my thoughts above then take action.

Being slimed with fear will soon cease.

That vapor lion that chases you will be sent back to the circus from which he escaped.

And you can enjoy peace.