5 Reasons God Calls Us to Scary Things
When I was 8 years old, I had ventriloquist dummies under my bed. My dad, who was an entertainer, had some professional dummies that he built as a hobby. Perhaps he wanted to get me started young in sharing his hobby, so he mailed me two for Christmas one year. What my Dad hadn’t counted on was Steven Spielberg.
Poltergeist would wreck all of his fancy plans.
I sneaked a watch of Poltergeist at my friend’s house at the age of 8 and it traumatized my elementary soul forever. The clown dummy in little Bobby’s room comes alive and attacks attacks him, almost dragging him to hell. Fun stuff for a kid, the 80s…
All I knew to do was bury those dummies under my bed, crammed between all of the other things I wish I could banish to the depths of hell. Unfortunately the dummy’s arm would occasionally be sticking out from under the bed. I’d grab something and shove it back under, afraid even to touch my brain’s mental precursor to Chucky. Every day, and every night, there was an uneasy tension in my room…the belief that a possibly-possessed-dummy lay in wait under my bed, ready to spring to un-life to torment me.
We could all probably agree at this point who the real dummy in the room was.
My older brother knew this, and one night as I went to get into bed, a hand grabbed my ankle without a sound.
I could have won a gold metal in the high jump competition, or shattered glass with the high pitched scream that was only possible from a young man who had not yet hit puberty.
God has no intention of scaring us for a thrill. Instead, it’s always for our own good. In this article, I want to give you a few reasons that scary stuff can actually be in our best interest.
God sometimes gives us scary stuff to do for multiple reasons. I don’t pretend to know all of them, but here are a few.
#1 To build our faith
"And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him" (Hebrews 11:6).
Doing scary things requires faith, and God often calls us to step out in faith in order to strengthen our trust in Him.
#2 To bring glory to God
"In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven" (Matthew 5:16).
When we do scary things in obedience to God, it can serve as a witness to others and bring glory to God. Unfortunately, most of the things that bring glory to God involve suffering, sacrifice, and scary endeavors.
#3 To learn important lessons
"Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance" (James 1:2-3).
Doing scary things can teach us important lessons about ourselves, our abilities, and our faith. It also teaches us to toughen up. “What didn’t kill me just made me tougher” is a biblical concept.
#4 To fulfill our purpose
"For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do" (Ephesians 2:10).
Wait. Did you actually think that God’s purpose for you involved doing boring, mundane things? It actually does, but not JUST that. There’s scary things that God prepared for you as part of a specific purpose and plan for each of our lives.
#5 To overcome fear
"For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind" (2 Timothy 1:7).
Doing scary things can help us overcome our fears and trust in God's strength and guidance. Any war, any victory, involves overcoming a buttload of fear and stepping out in courage. According to Revelation, God considers you an overcomer; a hero. And heroes only become heroes by doing scary stuff.
God is not a sadist (looking at you big brother…). He may think what my brother did is funny. I sure do. But he takes no pleasure in scaring you for fear’s sake. He does know that it will serve multiple purposes in your life from now until eternity.
Therefore, never be afraid of being afraid.