Rat Phobia

Before I begin this blog, let me clarify what I mean by the word rat...I mean any rodent type critter. (How is that for a good south Arkansas term?) It does not matter if they are tiny with big round ears and people call them Mickey, or if they are in a cage running endlessly on a wheel going nowhere, or if they are 3 feet long and live on a wharf... they are all rats!!! OK, now on to my blog.

I am scared of rats. I am the typical female in the chair when it comes to them. I blame this on my sister Cindy. When I was about 5 years old, a rat died under the coffee table at our home. I honestly don't know the true size, but in my memory it had to have been at least 18 inches in length. Cindy sent me under the table with a paper towel to get it out. How is that for warping your little sister???

It seems that I have a history with rats. When I was a teenager, I had to open the hot water heater closet. When I opened the door, there were two beady eyes staring at me. It was the biggest rat I had ever seen. I went running and screaming through the house. My uncle assured me that it was probably a baby opossum that had gotten in seeking warmth, but I think it was a rat.

When I first moved out on my own, I rented a trailer that was in the middle of a field. Every time it rained, field mice would get in. I was told to put out glue traps. Let me tell you right now, there is no worse sound than waking up in the middle of the night to a plastic glue trap scraping across a linoleum floor. After trying to kill the first one I caught, I quickly realized I hated them, but couldn't kill them. So I would open the back door and sweep the rat, trap and all out into the night.

I was convinced that rats would run across my bed while I was sleeping at night. I would not dare place any part of my body out from under the covers. Shortly after getting married, Jason brushed his foot against mine while sleeping, and I sat straight up in the bed screaming. Jason didn't even ask what was wrong, he just quickly assured me that it was only him and not a mouse.

As a teacher, I would allow students to bring their small pets to class to share. I have had birds, fish, spiders, and even snakes sitting on my desk. (In a cage of course) I had one student who begged me to let her bring her hamster. I finally gave in. Not only did she bring the cage, she brought the ball that allowed it to run around the room. At the end of the day during study hall, I allowed her to put it in the ball. I was sitting at my desk grading papers. I knew it was running around. However, when that ball went under my desk and bumped my foot, I was standing in my chair with a room full of laughing students.

I could go on and on with stories, but I think I have made my point ... I am scared of rats! I know that this fear makes no sense. I know that I am much bigger than a rat, and that it can't hurt me. (Although I might hurt myself trying to get away.) I also know that fear is not of the Lord, yet I still keep my self in bondage with this phobia.

Unfortunately, this is true of many areas of our lives. We know the truth, and yet we allow other things to keep us in fear, in guilt, in anger, or in hate. We allow these things to skew the way we view something. It has nothing to do with truth, but only what we perceive to be truth.

God's word tells us that we shall know the truth, and the truth will set us free. Will you receive the truth in your situation, or will you continue to stand on the chair hanging onto your phobia?