Get tough…get pushy…get some sleep!

Fresh Manna
by Renee Burt

I was talking to a friend last week, and we started talking about some of the things we were afraid of when we grew up. She had been afraid of quicksand…I had been afraid of the Invisible Man. She had been afraid of being eaten by an alligator…I had been afraid of being caught by Pygmies and having them shrink my head. We laughed, of course, since neither of us was in any real danger of any of those things happening. But those fears were so real, so paralyzing, so sleep-stealing at the time!

So do I still have those fears? No…but other fears have most certainly tried to take their place. Fears that involve finances, health, children, what’s happening in the world…I’m sure you could add plenty to that list! And if I let myself think about those things, they can be just as real, just as paralyzing, and just as sleep-stealing as those childhood fears. So what’s a grown-up girl to do?

For me, it’s making a conscious decision, when those thoughts come, to put them out of my mind! Because if they’re trying to make a house visit? They can’t come in and get comfortable, UNLESS I let them! And so I get pushy…and push those thoughts out, by replacing them with the thoughts of all the good things God has done, is doing, and will do in my life. I remind myself of specific verses about God’s protection, His peace…His comfort. And as I do? THOSE thoughts crowd out those fear-filled thoughts. So what fears are you fighting? Get tough…get pushy…and get some sleep again!!

Joel 3:10 MSG ~ Let the weak one throw out his chest and say, “I’m tough, I’m a fighter.”

Proverbs 3:24 AMP ~ When you lie down, you shall not be afraid; yes, you shall lie down, and your sleep shall be sweet.

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