The boys and I have Hind’s Feet on High Places playing in the car. It’s a simple story. I love the names of various people. I am hoping the boys take some of it in via osmosis. Today, we were listening to chapter 3, driving home from a fun time with friends at the local splash pad.
In this chapter, Much Afraid is held hostage by her relatives, the Fearings. They have trapped her in her cottage and she manages to call for help while they are in the kitchen. What are they doing in Much Afraid’s kitchen? They are plundering her cabinets to make a meal for themselves. Much Afraid calls to Mrs. Valiant who rushes to her aid, sending those scary relatives packing with just the sound of the Shepherd’s name. Perfect love drives out fear.
Perfect love, the name of the Shepherd, the driving out of fear… these are the obvious points to Chapter 3. None of those things are what sent me scurrying home to pull out my laptop and share with you, however. What stopped me in my tracks (literally, because it was waiting for a train to pass that I heard this part), is what happened AFTER the Fearings left Much Afraid’s cottage. Mrs. Valiant tells her small neighbor to go into the kitchen, where they will make a cup of tea and recover from the ordeal.
Here comes the good stuff.
They go into the kitchen and find the tea kettle already on the stove, heating up nicely. A meal is prepared, waiting on them. The Fearings had been busy making themselves lunch when they were interrupted and sent on their evil way. The trappings of this meal were left behind to be enjoyed by Mrs. Valiant and Much Afraid. All they had to do was pour the tea into their cups and sit down to feed their bodies and their souls.
Listening carefully, I wondered what kind of meal fear leaves behind. What was this scene illustrating? I thought about fears that have controlled me in the past. Eventually, I worked through them, but do I have tea and sandwiches left from their visit?
I believe, I do.
My first “serious” relationship was with a young man 3 years my senior. I was only 15 when we began dating, and we were together in an on-again/off-again drama-soaked mess until just before my 17th birthday. Walking away from the ruins of Nagasaki, I was much afraid. I was scared to trust any male, scared to open my heart to any person, scared that God did not love me anymore, scared that I would never regain the trust of my family, etc…
Years passed, and those fears made themselves right at home in my life, but they could not stay indefinitely. Eventually, the God I worship stepped in. He sent His own Mr. and Mrs. Valiants to my rescue, and the fears were banished.
Beginning a relationship with my husband, I found a maturity I had not known before. I was in better control of my boundaries. When I did anything at all within our relationship, it was because I wanted to and not because I was afraid of what would happen if I didn’t. I had learned to be myself and to state my own opinion and feelings honestly. Freedom to be myself was left in a kettle on the stove, and I drank it thirstily. I ate a meal made from true friendship and spiritual teachings that I may never have clung to, were it not for the state of mind I found myself in, post-breakup. In other words, when God ran the fears out of my life, they left behind some lessons learned.
I can apply this to any area of my life where I once felt fear and do not fear any longer. Those fears leave food behind, food they intended to eat themselves so I could never taste its goodness.
You see, the Fearing family in the story had not entered Much Afraid’s cottage with their own food. They had taken what was already hers and prepared to steal it. God says no one can take what He has given me. When fears are forced to leave, they do not take my blessings with them. They leave them even stronger than they were before.
Heather Truett 