To me, this seemed very scary. From our back deck, those woods seemed so thick and ominous. And on winter mornings, it was so dark! So I said, “I don’t think you should run back there! What if there was someone out there, in the woods? What if they attacked you?:
He laughed at me.
I said, “I’m serious! You should at least take a cell phone.”
He laughed again. He said, “What should I do–call 911 and say, ‘A big scary guy is attacking me somewhere in the woods’?”
I didn’t think it was funny. Day after day, I told him how worried I was. I begged him to run on the well lit sidewalks of our neighborhood. Or at least wait till daylight. Finally, he said, “Look, Shannon. If anybody is in those woods, I think they should be scared of me.”
He had a point. My husband is big and strong and he runs with his hood up. I suppose he would look pretty scary, coming through the woods in the dark. Since I’m his wife, I’m not used to picturing him as a threat. But someone trying to attack him would!
When I obsessed about my husband’s safety, without realizing it, I was making a statement about him. I was communicating the level of confidence I had in his ability to handle himself.
Similarly, when I worry and obsess about what’s ‘out there’ in the future, I’m making a statement about God. If I’m wringing my hands and fretting about this dark world that I, and my loved ones live in, I’m not exactly expressing supreme confidence in the exalted name of Jesus.
If I persist in my fear and worry, God says, “Look, Shannon. If any force is out there lurking in the darkness, I think they should be worried about Me.”
And He’s got a point. My God is powerful enough to vanquish any enemy. I suppose He would look pretty scary, coming at you in a fury of wrath! Since I belong to Him, I’m not used to picturing Him this way. But His enemies should!
We needn’t worry about the ominous threats lurking in the darkness of the unknown. When we feel the worry creeping in, we must remind ourselves that God–who is our protector–can handle himself against any enemy. They need to worry about Him.