Fake Fear

So here's a crazy story I ran across...

WACKY-BUT-TRUE: WOMAN CALLED FOR HELP WITH PLASTIC SPIDER _ A terrified woman in the UK called for help after finding a tarantula the "size of her hand" in a cabinet in her home. When help arrived they found the eight-legged creature was a plastic toy.

I dug a little deeper into the story and found out that this woman called the UK equivalent of 911.

She had emergency responders at her house along with friends and family, all to find out that the thing she feared was a toy.

Some of the things we fear the most are not even real.

I've been scared of toys, but for different reasons.

I used to hate those trolls. The ones with the big eyes and freaky curl in their hair.  

There was just a movie made with them in it.

UGLY!

For some reason I was terrified of them.  

I remember having dreams where they would come alive and chase me!  

I found one in a toy box once, and ran away crying!  It was JUST A TOY!

This was the spider that caused the 911 call!

The toy the woman was afraid of was just a toy, but it looked REAL!  It looked like a spider!

The toy I was afraid of didn't look like anything familiar to this world!  I admit, I'm odd.

Here's what I find interesting about this lady...

She was already afraid of spiders.  Really afraid.

When even a hint of a spider showed up, she FREAKED!  Fear controlled her!

She was ready at a moments notice to become unglued when a spider came anywhere near her!

I think this applies to us in an important way.

You may have a fear of something.  Let's say for example, cancer or a heart attack.

If this fear rules your life in those areas, it becomes evident when you have a little ache or pain.

It could be a heart attack!  It could be cancer!  I need to see the doctor NOW!

You call emergency services, call a friend, call you sister!  

It could be you have a fear that a spouse will be unfaithful.

Each time they talk to someone from the opposite sex, you question all their motives!

"I was just asking for directions...honest!"

It does not matter, fear says you were flirting!  "You don't love me!"

See how this thing creeps into your life and builds a web just like a REAL spider?

Just like a web, you can get stuck in it and never get free!

What's the answer?

Ever see the acronym for fear?  False Evidence Appearing Real!  

Most of the stuff we fear, isn't even real, just like the toy spider.  

It's a waste of time to think about them.  It's a waste time for the people close to you as well!

They have to constantly assure you that it's a TOY!  Plastic, fake...harmless.

Don't let false fear steal any time from you!

Now...about that Tickle Me Elmo.  THAT'S SCARY!!

Friends are a Gamble

If you are about my age you may remember a song by Michael W. Smith called "Friends".

As a new Christian in my late teens just getting into gospel music, I really liked the song because it had aspects of Christianity and real life heartache.  I think the heartache part hit me the most, cause it was sort of a happy/sad song.  It was about people staying connected even though they may be apart, the common thread between them being God.

The lyric is "Friends are friends forever, if the Lord's the Lord of them..."  Those words meant a lot to me because at one point I went through breaking up with a girl who was also a Christian, and having to deal with still going to the same school and having the same social circle.

How do you handle that?  If we are all Christians we should all be able to move on with our lives right?  No.  It was super awkward and I searched for a way to make sense of it through the song.  (I even read the lyrics over the school PA, that's another story...)

Being a teenager in the 80's you didn't have things like Facebook to be able to keep relationships going even when you got separated from your buddies.  If you were fairly literate, you could write letters, or if you had no knack for paper and pen, you could just pick up the phone and call, but even then, things were never the same.

When you made a friend there was always a chance that friend could move away.  My best buddy moved away after grade 9 and I was sad.  We were pretty inseparable.  We would do crazy things like shoot each other with pellet guns by the railroad tracks!  I miss those days, but not the bruises!

My point is this, getting and having friends is a risk.

You have no guarantees that they will always be around.  You don't know if they will let you down when you need them most.  You don't know if they will tell you what you need to hear when you need to hear it.  It's always a risk.

But with the biggest risks come the biggest rewards.

I saw an internet hoax recently where members of Facebook were warned to not "friend" someone named Jayden K. Smith.  The threat was that "Jayden" would hack your information and do terrible things with it!

First of all, I'm pretty sure that can't happen through Facebook.  The worst someone could do would be to bother you with constant requests to play games!

Secondly, it got me thinking about real world friends.  What if the Facebook scenario played out in real life?

What if you wanted to make friends and you couldn't because there was a rumor going around that you were a thief and will steal from anyone you get close to?  What if you were the subject of a campaign to tell the whole world wide web about how bad you are?  What could you do?

It would be tough to find a friend in that atmosphere!

Think about this for a second.  In the bible, Jesus picked out 12 guys to be his "learners".  The old school name is disciples.  After 3 years with them He said in John 15:15 (That's easy to remember!) that He now called them friends.

It's interesting because He knew that every one of them would turn their back on Him when He was at His worst moment!  He even told them it would happen!

Jesus never thought it wasn't worth the risk.  He believed in friendship.

I want to be a better friend.

I think of the people that I have encountered and how they were good friends and I wasn't.

I think about how even now there are friends I have now that I can't seem to talk to about things I should.

I think of people I wish I could be friends with, but their personality forbids it!  They are best left alone.

Relationships can be challenge, but I think ultimately they are worth it.

Prayin'

The chances of finding someone who does not know what the "Lords Prayer" is are high.

It's very well known all over the world. 

You know it by heart, right?  Why is that? 

"Because it's written in the bible!" you might say. 

Well I have something else for you to consider... 

We know that wonderful prayer because someone asked. 

Jesus was praying as he usually did, and one of the guys said, hey can you teach us that? 

There was no formal introductory prayer class. 

Maybe Jesus would not have ever said anything about what He was doing if no one was interested.

We don't even know who it was who asked! 

We have the Lord's prayer today because somebody asked a question. 

Always ask questions.