Fear....the Crouching Lion...

"So do not fear, for I am with you;

do not be dismayed, for I am your God.

I will strengthen you and help you.." Isaiah 41:10

A few months ago I experienced the Crouching Lion otherwise known as Fear..... I know that may sound a little dramatic but

at the time it was happening it was vividly real! One minute I was fine and the next minute my whole world was turning upside down, literally! When I went to get out of bed the whole room starting spinning around like a merry-go-round and I had absolutely no control over it! I felt like I was falling and I was sitting on the bed! I closed my eyes thinking that would make it better but it did not. Nothing seemed to help. I fell back onto the bed and Jose came over to see what was wrong. At this point I was really scared and not making much sense. All he could do was ask me if I wanted to go to the hospital or the doctor and I emphatically said NO! I realized what was happening ..... I was having an attack of vertigo and I knew that eventually it would pass but the problem was I wasn't sure how long it was going to last. I began to panic and I couldn't breathe.... All the time Jose kept talking to me and telling me I was ok... he held my hand and we prayed. As I began to calm down and breathe again I told him what was going on. He just kept telling me I was ok, and he was not going anywhere. In a little while the spinning stopped and I was back to normal.

It had been a long time since I have had an attack of vertigo and I had forgotten how frightening it was when an attack occurs. Fear, or the Crouching Lion as I call it, has a way of sneaking up on you and pouncing when you least expect it. Not so many years ago I would have totally paniced and probably ended up in the emergency room but not today. What changed you may ask..... well, I have changed....

I don't let fear come in to my mind or heart....I trust that God will keep me safe and the dizziness, or whatever the difficulty is will pass. At one point in my life I took medication for vertigo......it really did not work very well, but back then I was in a different place in my thinking and beliefs. I am so thankful that I am no longer in that place but rather where I trust in God and believe in his healing power and love.

Life is a learning experience.....every day we learn something new if we just pay attention to what is going on around us.....if we just take the time to stop and listen.....sometimes we have to be made to stop to see and hear the beauty around us......sometimes we have to be reminded that fear is just around the corner......sometimes we experience problems to strengthen our trust and faith...... We have a choice.....let Fear win and be miserable and lost ......or tell Fear it is a liar and trust in God to see us through the storm.....

2 Corinthians 12: 9-10 "....My grace is sufficient for you. My power works best in weakness. So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me. That's why I take pleasure in my weaknesses, and in the insults, hardships,persecutions, and troubles that I suffer for Christ. For when I am weak, then I am strong."

In other words when I feel the most weak and scared, then I am strongest in my faith that God will work through me. Don't get me wrong I believe in God and completely trust in him every day but I find that in those times when life "happens" and things go crazy that my faith increases ten fold!!! So when I am weakest, I am strongest in the Lord.

This moment with the Crouching Lion, has definitely been a life lesson that I won't soon forget. Hopefully your life lessons will be less scary and more timely than mine was. But hey, "life happens" when we least expect it but remember that no matter what happens or where it happens, you are not alone.....God is there by your side saying " take my hands.....I got you.... you'll be ok...just breathe..."

Prayer:

God, help me to always remember to trust you in all times and to remember that you are always with me, taking my hand and guiding me through the good and bad times of life, in Jesus name I pray your will be done. Amen