Monsters

Do you remember when you saw your first monster? Was it Frankenstein, or King Kong? Was it Freddy Krueger or Jaws? For me it was a monster known as “Gene Simmons” that’s right…the bass player for the famous rock band KISS!

When I was a little guy my older cousin had posters that covered every inch of his room. There were images of bands like Metallica, Motley Crue, and KISS. I remember every time I walked down the hallway I would run past his room as if I were being chased by a kid-eating pit bull.

I would race past the door hoping that the monsters who lived in my cousins room would not grab me and take me to live in the underworld that existed under every kid’s bed.

One day, my uncle thought it would be a good idea to take me and push me in the room, turn off the light, close the door, and hold it shut from the other side so that I could not escape. I was terrified as I stared into the face of Gene Simmons hanging on the wall. I screamed and cried as I was convinced that I would never see my Dad or Mom again. Finally after what seemed like days but in reality was seconds my Dad and Mom came and saved me. My mom went off on my uncle with the wrath and ferociousness of a mama grizzly bear protecting her cub.

As a kid in that room surrounded by monsters that were bigger then me I was paralyzed with fear. Today as a man I am no longer afraid of Gene Simmons. In fact later on in my life as a teenager I would begin to listen to bands that make Kiss look and sound like they belong on the Disney channel, but this is for another blog.

I may not be afraid of Monsters like Gene Simmons but monsters are real. Today we call our monsters anxiety, or loneliness, or anger, or temptation, or discouragement, or doubt. They come in the form of unpaid bills, unexpected calls from the doctor and uncertainty about our future. They stand tall and they sneer at us and, at times, we become paralyzed with fear.

God reminded Israel constantly that their enemies were bigger and stronger than they were…

{Deuteronomy 7:1} “When the Lord your God brings you into the land that you are entering to take possession of it, and clears away many nations before you, the Hittites, the Girgashites, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, seven nations more numerous and mightier than you”

{Deuteronomy 9:1} “Hear, O Israel: you are to cross over the Jordan today, to go in to dispossess nations greater and mightier than you, cities great and fortified up to heaven”

There could be no doubt that God was painting a clear picture of the enemy. There was no intention on God’s part to deceive His people regarding the reality of a monstrous enemy. The danger was real, the threat was real, and monsters were real.

Don’t let anyone tell you that your monsters aren’t real. They are, and they are bigger, stronger, meaner, and more powerful than you.

This Is Perfect! Because when they are defeated—and they can be—it is God that gets the glory.

Are you ready to face your monsters?

Joshua 1:9 “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”

Courage: begins with surrender to God’s power and authority, and trust in God’s strength. Not until our courage is the result of our trust that God knows what He’s doing, and has the strength to do it, can we have any real sense of composure to face our monsters.

God is bigger and stronger than any monster we face. Be strong in the Lord and He will destroy the monsters