Mountains out of Molehills

Verse of the Week:

1 Timothy 1:7
For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.

Mountains out of Molehills

Fear....it seems to sneak up on people all the time. Recently, I discovered that I have a couple of lumps on my leg.  My first reaction to those lumps is the possibility of cancer. At first I was just concerned about the lumps, but then dark thoughts began to invade my mind.  What if I get cancer? What if I have to suffer while fighting for my life? What if I die?  I will be leaving behind Brian and my sweet baby boy.  I want so bad to see Brayden grow up and to grow old with my husband. I feel like I would be robbed of my life!  The fear began to creep up on me and grew bigger and bigger and bigger.  Eventually, these little tiny molehills that I was concerned about became mountains of FEAR! You see, sometimes our fears/problems start off "small," and then Satan likes to put a little tiny seed of doubt or concern into our thoughts and then allow it to grow to the point that the concern is now this huge fear/problem. Here is a story I heard one time:

Once upon a time there was a small village nestled in a beautiful valley below a huge mountain.  The people of the village were happy and content on their farms raising their own food for their families.  However, no one ever left the tiny village, because up in the huge mountain was a horrifying, ugly, dark mean monster with massive claws and sharp fangs.  The villagers had heard that He could chomp you into half in one bite!  His roar was so loud that it shook the mountain and made the people in the village tremble.  No one dared to try to face this monster and kill him.  Therefore, no one climbed the mountain.  However, one day, a brave young man wanted to go up to the mountain and fight this horrifying, ugly, dark mean monster.  He was tired of not being able to explore other areas beyond the mountain.  Therefore, he recruited 12 other men to go with him on the quest to fight this monster.  They began to climb the mountain with their weapons.  About a quarter up the mountain, they heard a loud roar that pierced their ears and made the earth tremble like an earthquake. Fearing for their lives, 6 of the men fled back down the mountain.  However, 7 of them bravely continued on their journey up to the top. When the men reached about half way up the mountain, they began to see the giant shadow of the monster with his sharp piercing fangs and large claws.  Once again, they heard  a loud roar!  Fearing for their lives, 6 more men fled down the mountain, leaving only one man to face the gruesome monster.  The brave man continued up the mountain.  As he got closer, the roar of the monster no longer seemed as loud.  In fact the earth did not tremble over the noise.  The man continued to climb.  As he got closer, the shadow of the monster began to shrink and the sharp piercing teeth began to look rather small.  The man continued to creep closer and closer to the monster. The closer he got, the smaller the shadow got and the quieter his roar was.  Eventually, when he arrived to the cave, the shadow was the size of a little bug and the loud roar sounded like a squeaky little  mouse.  The man entered the cave and saw a tiny little monster.  He picked up the monster with his hand and asked, "Sir, what is your name?" The tiny little monster responded with a squeak, "Fear."

You see the monster wasn't near as big as people in the village thought.  However, when we focus on our fears, we begin to view our problems and concerns like those people in the village, a huge monster.  The villagers allows fear to grip them so much that they were unable to face their problems.  Satan loves to use fear as a way to steal our joy and peace.  1 Peter 5:8 says,

Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.

But God doesn't give us a spirit of fear.  We have Christ's spirit inside of us which is full of power, love, and sound judgement.  1 Timothy 1:7 says,

For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.

1 Peter 5:8 says, "Resist him [the devil], standing firm in the FAITH..." (emphasis mine) 

Faith is the complete opposite of fear.  Faith in Christ includes trust, confidence, hope, which in turn allows us to have peace and joy. When we focus on Christ, our fears and problems look so much smaller.  Someone very close to me once said, "Don't tell God how big your problem is, tell your problem how big your God is!"  We have a big God who can take care of every fear and problem we face.

Once I stopped focusing on the lumps on my leg and remembered who holds me in the palm of my hand, my fears began to fade and was replaced with peace.  Keep your eyes on Christ.  Look at your fears/problems through His eyes.  It will change your perspective.  If you focus on Christ, your problem becomes a molehill, but when you focus on your problem it can become a mountain.