Finding the Switch
As soon as he came within an arm’s reach of the light switch, he flipped it on. It was light that brought comfort and security to Eli. Around the age of 7 he went through a season of fear. If he had to go into another room alone, he would turn on every light in the house along the way. We did our best as parents to bring assurance to him by repeating the promise that everything is going to be okay – there are no monsters in our house.
It’s a parents’ role to be confident that no monsters actually exist, meaning we sometimes have to be the first to walk into a dark room to turn on the light. Yet, as easy as this might be in our home, we sometimes have fear similar to a child when it comes to entering situations alone. Yeah, I know, adulting is hard. There are times when we have to walk into the unknown, dark places in life. If only we could find the stinking light switch! Yet, in our adulting fears, we forget the assurance and repeated promise from our heavenly parent. That no matter where we walk, or what’s ahead, there is a foundation of faith, hope, and trust that we can rely on. Here’s the thing: I’m not trying to belittle our adult fears or worries, but what if our fear of a scary situation stops us from receiving the reward that God has waiting for us?
There are two stories in the book of Daniel that display what I’m talking about. The first one is found in chapter 3 where three young men remained faithful more than fearful. Since they refused to serve and bow down to another god, they were threatened to be thrown into a furnace of blazing fire. The three men’s response to the king was this, “But even if he does not rescue us, we want you as king to know that we will not serve your gods or worship the gold statue you set up.” Then, in they went. Eight shock-and-awe verses later - Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego came out of the fire, and the satraps, prefects, governors and royal advisers crowded around them. They saw that the fire had not harmed their bodies, nor was a hair of their heads singed; their robes were not scorched, and there was no smell of fire on them.
The second story is found in Daniel 6. The reigning king at that time issued a decree that for 30 days, anyone who prays to any god or man except the king will be thrown into the lions den. Daniel did not let fear stop him. He went into his house and did what he always did three times a day – prayed and gave thanks to his God. No decree could stop him and as a result, in he went into the lion’s den. A stone was even placed over the mouth of the den…sound familiar? Don’t they know stones can’t stop God? We find out – when Daniel was brought up from the den, he was found to be unharmed, for he trusted in his God.
These guys may have taken some deep breaths when entering their situations, but they didn’t have doubt. They didn’t focus on the fear. Instead, their faith was bigger than their fear. These two victories show us how trusting in God can help us walk into any situation.
What situation are you afraid to walk into? Are you waiting to find a light switch before you enter, or are you willing to switch your fear into faith and see what happens next? We already have everything we need to conquer fear on the inside of us. He is the fire. He is the lion within. He is the light! Jesus walked through the darkest situation when he took the keys of death, hell, and the grave. As your heavenly parent, he’s promising you, repeatedly, “everything is going to be okay—there’s no monsters.”