Yes, cockroaches. I read a story today about a man visiting India who liked to sleep with his window open but was afraid to because giant cockroaches (3-4 inches long!!) would come in at night. His solution was to rig up some kind of screen to let air and sound in but keep the bad stuff out.
Most of us can relate. Often our sleep is disturbed by worries and fears that come crawling into our minds in the nighttime hours. But as Christians, our faith is the barrier that “screens” what comes into our lives and lets us rest without having to be totally on guard all the time. Even when we’re awake, God filters what comes our way when our faith is in good repair.
I have screens in my living room windows right now that need some work. Because of their sad repair, I’m afraid to open my windows as often as I’d like, keeping me from enjoying a fresh breeze blowing through to air the place out on a windy day, or to hear the sound of rain on a wet one.
Similarly, when I lie awake with worry at night, it’s because there’s a tear in relationship with God… a lack of trust somewhere that needs some attention. The real problem is not the worries trying to work their way in to bother me, but a worn place in my faith that givens them an opening. That’s the problem that deserves my attention.
“Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty… You will not fear the terror of night, nor the arrow that flies by day, nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness, nor the plague that destroys at midday.”
(Psalm 91:1,5-6 NIV)
(Photo credit: Unsplash/PattiBlack)
