It was the season of hayrides, corn mazes, and Halloween. 

I was roughly 7-years old when my parents, my younger brother, and I boarded an old yellow school bus that had been salvaged from a junk yard to give people rides to a small pumpkin farm.

I was excited, young, and naïve.  I truly thought this dilapidated old bus was just taking us on an innocent ride through a creepy looking forest to bring us to our pumpkin destination. 

It quickly became apparent to my 7-year old little self, though, that something was off about this ride.  As the bus lurched into motion, I noticed that the driver never shut the door.

We drove at a regular speed down a dirt road until we approached the forest.

As we came upon the wooded area, our driver slowed down substantially and came to a crawl.  The sun was setting and it was difficult to see what was moving through the trees.

By the time my eyes were able to focus clearly, something was upon us – a gorilla!  A snarling, growling, vicious-looking gorilla jumped onto our bus and was terrorizing the passengers! 

I was paralyzed with fear. 

It took my parents (who were stifling their giggles) several minutes to calm me down and explain that it was just a person dressed as a gorilla.

Some might say that this experience scarred me for life. I will confess that I developed a healthy appreciation for closed doors – especially when it comes to keeping things out that need to stay out! 

Fear is definitely one of those things.

2 Timothy 1:7 says this, “…God has not given us a spirit of fear, but one of power, love, and sound judgement.”

As a Christ-follower, this verse gives us such clarity, assurance, and peace.  It reminds us that anytime we sense fear pressing in, it’s because we’ve left a door open somewhere.

God gives us authority, through His Son and His Word, to close those doors.

“…submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.” (James 4:7)

Keeping ourselves surrendered to God and actively resisting the devil, ultimately, keeps all those doors closed.

And the fear out (along with gorillas).

Until next time, Grace and Glory!