Chipmunk Fear
The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? the LORD is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid? Psalm 27:1
Ever been scared? I mean really scared, even to wits end?
One night during our camping trip it rained and the wind blew like crazy. It rained so hard you could hardly hear yourself think until finally only a ‘patter’ of rain came mixed with ere silence. Inside our tent all was pitch black, black enough to be kind of spooky. Then the rain and the wind hit again, this time more fiercely, blowing like a Rocky Mountain hurricane… all seemingly directed at our little peaceful and fragile tent.
I couldn’t sleep out of sheer excitement. The day had been beautiful and my time with Belinda, simply the best! At the same time I lay there thanking God for his countless blessings. Although not every thing was going all that great with my job situation at the same time there simply was too much to not be grateful for. The camping trip was like a vacation and a semi honeymoon all in one package and for it I couldn’t thank the Lord more.
The rain and the wind worried me some as well; I mean we were sleeping in a flimsy tent and outside a Noah type rain was occurring! I was a little on edge. The rain died down but outside I began hearing a scratching noise and then I heard some metal object topple over. Then it happened again, but this time closer, just outside the confines of our tent wall. My mind raced to the earlier report of a bear being in our vicinity, a bear large enough to move the trash dumpsters down at the base of our hill.
Well, I was instantly wide awake! My praying had stopped (just when I needed to be praying) and my mind instantly searched for some kind of weapon. So, I grabbed the axe next to our inflatable mattress and I waited. I learned right then and there that I’m no courageous Daniel in the Lion’s den. With scratching going on outside and darkness around me I waited. I just knew that some mauling, black, menacing monster was about to appear. I waited. The scratching noise had stopped and ever slowly I relaxed some. I awoke the next morning.
With the sunrise breaking I unzipped the tent door flap to see for myself the track of a bear that I just knew would be there planted in the mud. Only I found several chipmunk tracks and an overturned soda can. “You city boy”, I thought and went back to bed, laughing at myself.
Isn’t it true that we worry about the smallest of things? Sometimes we make a chipmunk out to be a bear when the Lord wants us to rest easy in his peace. Sometimes we can’t see beyond the walls of our world and yet we worry about something that we’ve made a lot bigger than what is actually is. How many chipmunks scare us when actually God has everything under control? God is bigger than a chipmunk or even the bears that come into our life.
I couldn’t sleep out of sheer excitement. The day had been beautiful and my time with Belinda, simply the best! At the same time I lay there thanking God for his countless blessings. Although not every thing was going all that great with my job situation at the same time there simply was too much to not be grateful for. The camping trip was like a vacation and a semi honeymoon all in one package and for it I couldn’t thank the Lord more.
The rain and the wind worried me some as well; I mean we were sleeping in a flimsy tent and outside a Noah type rain was occurring! I was a little on edge. The rain died down but outside I began hearing a scratching noise and then I heard some metal object topple over. Then it happened again, but this time closer, just outside the confines of our tent wall. My mind raced to the earlier report of a bear being in our vicinity, a bear large enough to move the trash dumpsters down at the base of our hill.
Well, I was instantly wide awake! My praying had stopped (just when I needed to be praying) and my mind instantly searched for some kind of weapon. So, I grabbed the axe next to our inflatable mattress and I waited. I learned right then and there that I’m no courageous Daniel in the Lion’s den. With scratching going on outside and darkness around me I waited. I just knew that some mauling, black, menacing monster was about to appear. I waited. The scratching noise had stopped and ever slowly I relaxed some. I awoke the next morning.
With the sunrise breaking I unzipped the tent door flap to see for myself the track of a bear that I just knew would be there planted in the mud. Only I found several chipmunk tracks and an overturned soda can. “You city boy”, I thought and went back to bed, laughing at myself.
Isn’t it true that we worry about the smallest of things? Sometimes we make a chipmunk out to be a bear when the Lord wants us to rest easy in his peace. Sometimes we can’t see beyond the walls of our world and yet we worry about something that we’ve made a lot bigger than what is actually is. How many chipmunks scare us when actually God has everything under control? God is bigger than a chipmunk or even the bears that come into our life.
posted by Michael Byrd at 7:31 AM
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