Lizardly Lessons

"Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the LORD your God goes with you; He will never leave your nor forsake you." Deuteronomy 31:6 NIV

Yep. This is going to be about lizards.                                                      

And let me just say that I know that the verse above was not written about lizards, but I applied it. Smile.

I must confess. This post was supposed to have been written long ago. God gave me the message and I just never got around to tapping it out.

And so He had to impress it upon me a little more intimately...up close and personal. Smile again.

In our last house, we had this lizard...I think it was a blue-tailed skink, actually...living in our garage. It took great delight, I feel sure, in sneaking up on me and totally scaring the bejeebies out of me.

So I was reminded often that there was an unwritten post about "Lurking Lizards" and the fears that skulk around in our lives.

Didn't get it done.

God felt the need to whisper a little louder.

So now we've moved on to a different house. I've not seen lizards in my garage yet. However, this was my surprise on Tuesday.

In case it's hard for you to figure out just what's going on in that photo, that's my dog (17 year old, deaf and almost blind) Cocoa sunning in her bed at the back door in my kitchen.

With her lizard friend. (Of which she was totally unaware.)

Holding my 6 month old granddaughter in my arms, I shrieked to my 12 year old daughter, "Help! There's a lizard in here!! You've got to get it out!!!"

She was not feeling that.

So I had to become the brave, responsible adult and conquer the foe! I wish I had it on video. We could probably have become a YouTube sensation!

After claiming Deuteronomy 31:6, I managed, hilariously, to get our little reptilian friend out to continue the sunbath on our back porch.

So what's my take-away? What are the lizardly lessons?

Here's what I've come up with.

• There's always something lurking, causing fear, even threatening to undo us.
• We can become paralyzed and ineffective when we give in to the fear.
• More often than not, those fears are way bigger than than the subject of the fear. (Think tiny skink.)
• The very thing we're afraid of is often not viable. (In Beth Moore's Patriarchs Bible study, she uses the acronym for fear as False Evidence Appearing Real. That is often the case. Not always, but often.)
• We might surprise ourselves if we face our fear and act upon it. Get the lizard out of the house!
• Ask God to equip us...to be our shield and defender...to strengthen our resolve.
• God understands our fear. In fact, He addresses it over and over in Scripture. I've heard it said that His urging us to "not fear" or "not be afraid" is written 365 times...one for each day of the year.
• We need to seek His reassurance, His promises to us, and trust in Him.

A great place to start is Psalm 121, which says,

"I lift up my eyes to the hills-

where does my help come from?

My help comes from the LORD,

the Maker of heaven and earth.

He will not let your foot slip-

He who watches over you will not slumber;

indeed, He who watches over Israel

will neither slumber or sleep.

The LORD watches over you-

the LORD is your shade at your right hand;

the sun will not harm you by day,

nor the moon by night.

The LORD will keep you from all harm-

He will watch over your life;

the LORD will watch over your coming and going

both now and forevermore."



The Maker of heaven and earth watches over us and cares about everything that concerns us. And oh, how He loves us. May we be faithful in trusting Him.

Monday Meditation~Worry Is Wrong

"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?" Matthew 6:25-27 (NIV)

The Bible says, "Do not worry."                                            

That means it's a sin.

And I'm guilty.

Funny, I'm often the one reminding two people I love not to worry. (I hear your uh-huhs, girls.)

But I think I've fallen into the trap.

My dreams are a clear indication....Although I'm not sure what the one where I went into a perfect stranger's house and ate 1 1/2 pieces of some truly amazing pecan pie meant. Yep, I stopped right in the middle of the second piece and put it on the counter (hoping someone would finish it?) and snuck out of the house...worrying.

I even had a teacher nightmare! You know, the ones where you totally lose control of the class just as the principal comes in, or you don't have a thing planned and the students and the parents are there, or you're at school inappropriately dressed. The thing is, I'm retired!! Of course, it's my first year in retirement and I guess it takes a little while for it to get out of my blood.

This morning as I glanced out the window to the bird feeder, God whispered in my ear portions of Matthew 6:25-27. He's so personal.

Then as I had my quiet time, I read from Beth Moore's devotional book, Praying God's Word Day by Day. I was reminded to "walk by faith and not by sight." (2 Corinthians 5:7) She said, "Believing God closes the gap between our theology and our reality...."

Yes, the gavel came down.

As I continued in my quiet time, the words to Kari Jobe's song, Steady My Heart, echoed in my mind.

God is so real. His love is so great. And He's got us...right inside the palm of His hand.