What Do Women Fear?Sample

Day Five: Afraid of Satan’s Physical Location

Psalm 4:8: “In peace I will both lie down and sleep; for you alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety.” Fear of the dark is a common fear, but as is my tendency, I took it one step further and spent a good chunk of childhood fearing the full-sized physical Satan that I thought lived in the right-hand corner of my bedroom ceiling.

I’m not precisely sure how it all started, but I think it began when I asked my mom or grandma or babysitter, where precisely Satan lived. I’d heard about Him at church. I’d heard that he was out to “steal, kill, and destroy” me. But, where exactly was he? If I was to be on guard, I needed to know where to look.

After voicing this concern to whichever grown-up was present during my pondering, this imprecise grown-up said something like, “Oh, you don’t need to be scared about Satan. He’s far away. Like, way over there.”

Grown-up flung her arm behind her and pointed, attempting to physically show a great distance. Instead, I took her gesture in a literal sense and deduced that Satan lived right there in the corner of my childhood bedroom ceiling, right in the spot Grown-up had pointed.

I would lay in bed and glare at that righthand ceiling spot. If Satan took one move toward me, I would muster all my five-year-old strength and be ready to outrun whatever snake-dragon-warrior creature was about to lunge at me.

I didn’t know how to fight with the Word of God yet. I didn’t know that there was real power in the name of Jesus. I didn’t know that Satan, wherever he may be, has already lost. I didn’t know that even if Satan did live in my room and even if he was a snake- dragon-warrior, I could lie down and sleep in peace, because the LORD already defeated him, in any and every form, when He walked out of His own grave.

-- Do you lay awake at night and worry? What are the things you keep your eyes glued open for? Pray that you will believe the truth of this psalm. The Lord loves you. The Lord is in control. In Him, your soul is safe. You can sleep in peace. Look up Psalm 4:8 in a few different translations and write your favorite on your hand, so you can look at it all day.

Additional Reading: Romans 16:20; Ephesians 6:11-16

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