There's a Veggie Tales short about a little boy who's scared after watching a monster movie. Larry and Bob (as well as the veggie who plays the monster in the movie) show up to remind the boy that "God is bigger than the boogieman, and he's watching out for you and me." It's adorable, as are most Veggie Tales stories, and it has a good point. When our children are scared, it helps them to hear that there's someone who can vanquish all the monsters. It tells them "You are safe - the monster can't get you."
It's easy to tell our children that. After all, monsters aren't real. Except for one small point - they are. It's just that as we get older, the monsters change. No longer do we fear the giant, creepy boogieman. We aren't worried about the thing under the bed grabbing our foot if we don't keep it under the covers (although I still feel like it might whenever I've recently read a Stephen King book).
Instead, we fear the looming specter of death. We fear the mangy grasp of poverty. We fear the sallow-faced twin goblins - pain and disease. And I don't know about anyone else, but these things sometimes make me long for a boogieman. At least that I could fight off with some monster spray (I gave a bottle to my brother when he was 4 - a bit of my perfume and water - and it worked like a charm), scare away with a shout or by turning on the lights, or even fend off with an errant baseball bat if the situation arose.
I can't take down my student loan debt, medical bills, or mortgage with Love's Baby Soft. I can't yell my ovaries or colon into submission and make them give up the guerrilla attacks they stage against me with cysts and Celiac. I can't guarantee myself a long life by plugging in a cute character night light. I wish I could.
But here's the thing - Veggie Tales was right. God is bigger than the boogieman. And that doesn't just apply to childhood monsters with gnashing teeth and tearing claws. It applies to every monster that we face from the time we are born until the time we die.
I was privileged to have attended a Bible workshop with my sister over the weekend, the subject of which was "Fear Not." What a powerful two words. I heard testimony from some amazing women about things they had been through in their lives. Things that seemed insurmountable at the time. Things that God brought good out of.
God is bigger than my debt. He is bigger than my pain. Bigger than my illness. He is bigger than the now-repaired hole in my daughter's heart. He is bigger than death - he conquered it. He is greater than anything that tries to harm me. He is greater than anything that does harm me. Because we are all harmed in our lives. People hurt us. We hurt ourselves. Circumstances seem to conspire against us. The best verse that I came away with from the workshop was Genesis 50:20, when Joseph is talking with his brothers about their sins against him:
"As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good..."
God has the big picture. He can see the whole of everything, and His plan is in the works. I'm sure you can think of a time when something horrible happened to you that eventually turned out to be for the best. I've shared before how my daughter's diagnosis, her surgery, her struggle, has inspired me to begin a non-profit that will be able to benefit over 300 families a year. I've had relationships end and been devastated by those endings, only to find that my life was healthier with the removal of that toxic person.
It's only human to feel fear. We all do. But when you do, remember that God has you. And he's watching over you and me.
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