Let me tell you a little story about me. Me and spiders.
Me and spiders don't get along very well. Not only do I have a fear of them, but I have a fear of killing them. This proves quite problematic.
Therefore, last night, when I marched into the bathroom and discovered a spider half the size of my hand (I have small hands, so that's not really an exaggeration), there was only one thing to do: Run away.
So I ran to my brother and begged him to come kill it (scaring him half to death in the process, poor guy). And of course, what do spiders do when you take your eyes off them for two seconds? They disappear. Vanish into thin air, unable to be seen by the valiant spider-killers who have left their comfortable beds to come save you.
Armed with a towel my brother promised would defend me against the spider's spiderly wiles, I sneaked back into the bathroom. I rounded the corner, and LO! There he (or she) was. Nearly falling over the laundry hamper, I abandoned my towel sword and ran frantically around trying to find the vacuum that I had apparently misplaced. After much crashing noises, stubbing of toes, and skipped heartbeats, I was finally poised four feet across from the spider, my eyes narrowed in a glare that causes humans to believe I hate them but apparently does nothing to spiders, holding the vacuum, ready to suck up the spider that had ruined my peaceful night's sleep.
Safely back in bed after disposing of the tiny creature I had not-so-fondly nicknamed "Beelzebub," I didn't fall asleep until I heard that tiny voice:
"I want that."
I wrinkled my metaphorical brow in confusion. "You want what?"
"I want that paralyzing fear. I want you to hand it over to Me."
I'm fairly certain my little brain-me was laughing. "You want spiders? You want me to surrender my fear of spiders?"
Apparently. All of a sudden it was no laughing matter.
"Really? Are You sure? It's really not a big deal..."
"Then why won't you give it up?"
"Good question..."
What does God do when you ask to be close to Him? He answers. And He answers by stripping away everything in your life that is not of Him. Great and small do not exist in His eyes; every single tiny little thing is important to Him. If there is a teeny-tiny little thing that is keeping you from being completely sold out for Him, I can guarantee that when you ask for intimacy with Christ, He will go to all lengths to get that teeny-tiny little thing out of your life.
I like when God asks for big things. It makes me feel better about myself. I feel very self-satisfied when I follow His call in giving up a pastime, an addiction, a relationship -- something that has been a huge, very obvious part of my life.
And then there are the times He asks for the not-so-big things. Like spiders. And when He asks for these things, to my shock and horror I discover that these tiny little things have a fiercer hold over my heart than anything big He's ever taken away. He slowly shows to me that fear and compromise are a part of my every day life in areas I've never even thought about. Jesus cares what I think of spiders?? Yes. Yes He does. It was news to me too.
So I am embarking on a rather terrifying journey: Overcoming fear through the power of Christ. The fear just happens to be of eight-legged creepy crawlers who, my entomologically-learned brother informed me, are mostly harmless in my pleasant little home.
We were not made to be enslaved to anyone or anything but Christ. Let us take hold of the power of the cross in every area of our lives -- no matter how ridiculous it is. He cares. He desires that part of your heart. He loves. And He has overcome.
