Faith in a Spray Can

When I am afraid, I will trust in you. Psalm 56:3 (NIV)

After this post, I’m headed for bed. I took a benadryl about an hour ago and am sagging. Tonight, when I came home from work and started in the house, I didn’t see the wasp standing sentry duty at the back door. He buzzed my head, landed on the back of my neck and started stinging the fire out of me. Boy, did it hurt! I was yelling and jumping around trying to get it out of my shirt. Youngest son came running and put some baking soda on it to ease the pain. The sting must be right on a nerve because not only is my neck red and swollen, but my arm and ear are throbbing. I didn’t do anything to that stupid wasp and sure didn’t deserve this pain. Now, I am afraid to go out my back door again. The weekend was a great one, but my imagination went into overdrive, and I spent a lot of time with fears that buzzed around my head just like a nasty wasp. On Friday night, we rode the motorcycle down to a rally. There were hundreds and hundreds of bikes there, the restaurants were crowded, and the band noisy so we ended up leaving and going somewhere else for dinner. The whole time I was on the bike, I was worried. I kept wondering what it would feel like to get run over by a semi. Still, we made it home safe and sound. Saturday, my friend and I went to Little Manatee State Park for a “mystery map” horse back ride. It’s a cross between a scavenger hunt and an obstacle course. All the way there, I had a nervous feeling in my stomach like something bad was going to happen. With so many riders and a timed event, it would be easy to get careless and fall off, but, my sweet horse has really grown up and matured. He did all the obstacles but one and that one, I gave him a pass on because I didn’t want to teach him to open a gate! He even walked over some logs and through a “trash pile” made of plastic soda bottles. What a trooper. And no one got hurt. On Sunday, we had dinner with a woman and her husband I met through work. I don’t know them well. Would I make a good impression? The conversation flowed freely, and we enjoyed making some new friends. If I had let my fear rule and stayed home from any of those activities, I would have missed out on some fun. Once it got dark tonight, I sprayed that wasp’s nest with bug killer. Trusting God is a similar method for eliminating fears in my life. I just wish faith came in a spray can!