We attended a Fourth of July celebration in an Atlanta neighborhood
where our daughter was working for the evening. What we didn’t know is our
seats were just yards away from where the fireworks would be set off. We had Lucy
with us.
The Aussiedor had never shown any reaction to fireworks before, but again, we’d
didn’t realize we were so close.
When the pyrotechnics began, Lucy went into panic mode and shot out
pulling Jerry over in his chair then proceeded to clear a path in her wake. I ran
through the crowd fearing we might never find her in an unfamiliar place like
this if she became lost. Thankfully, a man seeing my situation stepped on her
leash as she passed and stopped her. By
then, Jerry had caught up with us, and we couldn’t get out of there fast
enough.
Since then, fireworks really get Lucy going and around the Fourth, we
have lots of fireworks in our town.
For the past few nights, the Big Guy (Jerry) sleeps with her beside
him. She likes that. A lot.
It reminds me of Mason, the son of friends. As a child, he had a hard time staying in his
own bed and getting to sleep at night because of his fears. One night, his dad put him back in his bed again
and reminded him as he had many times before that God was with him.
The little fellow said, “I know, but I want somebody with skin on
them.”
Don’t we all?
Don’t we just crave the presence of God in skin? Someone we can touch,
hold, and lean against.
I know I do.
But then there’s this thing called faith, the “evidence of things not
seen,” wrote a man who dealt with fears of his own. The apostle Paul wrote to the Corinthians he
was with them “. . . in weakness, and in fear, and in much trembling” (I
Corinthians 2:3).
But God told Paul in a vision one night, “Do not be
afraid; keep on speaking, do not be silent. For I am
with you, and no one is going to attack and harm you, because I have many
people in this city” (Acts 18:9-10).
Whatever God calls us to do, he will equip us for it.
We don’t have to be afraid. I’ve repeated those words to myself as I’ve stood
before the locked doors of a prison gate before being admitted to do ministry
there, as a plane touched down in a faraway place on a mission trip, or as I’ve
struggled for the words when praying for a seemingly impossible situation.
Yes, like Mason, we want someone with skin on them, and
like Lucy, we want to climb up beside the Big Guy and feel him next to us.
But Jesus, God with skin on Him, told us around
eighteen times in the New Testament not to fear. In all, “Fear Not,” appears
365 times in the Bible.
God calls us to walk by faith, not by sight (2
Corinthians 5:70.)
Today, that little boy, Mason, is a pastor, so I
believe he’s latched onto that walking by faith thing.
May we all.
Praying with you, friends that God would give us all we
need to do just that.
Meanwhile, for what it’s worth, Lucy will be wearing
her thunder vest for a few days. It works a little, anyway.
I found a printable with all the “Fear Not” references
on it HERE.
edited repost
