Paper Thin This Instant!

Paper Thin

“The word is not the thing.”

Huh?

It’s a concept I learned in a college communications class. Basically, it works like this: When I say “dog,” I picture an adorable, happy, go-lucky golden retriever. But when my friend hears “dog,” she pictures a 140-pound growling beast bearing its teeth, breath reeking from its latest kill. “Dog” makes her shudder while it makes me light up.

Unfortunately, the word “dog” is a poor representation of the actual lazy, chunky basset hound it was intended to describe.

Okay. Now, when I say “fear,” join me in visualizing an old, ugly, steel chain. Fear is heavy. Burdensome and uncomfortable, it prides itself on its tight grip, its power to hinder, its ability to weigh one down and make life miserable.

Fear is a close cousin of anxiety, something I think is just as much a part of my DNA as red and white blood cells are a part of what pumps through my veins. Fear and anxiety have the same mission: Forbid inner peace and contentment at all costs. Keep the victim from experiencing the thrill of life. Chain her up, tie him down, keep them living small.

Now, leave those chains in the dungeon. Come with me to the sunny boutique on the corner downtown. Observe the sales lady as she prepares to wrap the precious gift you just bought for Grandma in tissue paper. Clean and crisp, white and light, the wrapping material is thin. Held by its top two corners, light shines right through it. It flutters in the breeze. A scale wouldn’t even notice it.

What if fear is but a sheet of gift wrapping tissue paper? What if you can see through it? What if fear is fragile…destructible…paper thin? What if it can be destroyed in an instant? What if it’s wrapped all around you, but you were the fool for thinking it held you captive? What if I said “fear” and you just shrugged and smiled?

If fear is tissue paper—not a heavy chain—then all it takes is a spark of the Holy Spirit’s fire to land on it, ignite it, burn it to destruction, and free you completely.

“For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship. And by him we cry, 'Abba, Father.'"
Romans 8:15
“So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God.” Isaiah 41:10

“For our God is a consuming fire.”
Hebrews 12:29
(Emphasis: Jodi’s. Consuming meaning: Nothing left. Nada. No evidence remains. As in: “Fear? What fear?”)