As I was making my bed this morning and while my mind was racing on today’s activities, a thought hit me of an old fear I had over the years, a phobia of needles! Not just needles in general, but hypodermic needles! I’m really not sure how this fear started but there were two instances I could attribute them to.
One was when I was young boy, I stayed at my grandma’s house which was less than a block from downtown and I was able to roam a little bit, fulfilling my curiosity and there were few buildings that had an upstairs area with a public stairs to the outside. Being curious , I would climb the stairs, just to see what was up there. On one of these adventures, i arrived at the top of the stairs only to be horrified at what I saw! There, visable throught an opened door, I witnessed a man using a hammer and chisel, removing teeth from another man sitting in a chair! In shock, I ran down the stairs, straight to my grandma’s house, my safe place with a horrid vision burnt into memory!
The second was “My turn to go to the dentist!” I had tree siblings, all older than me and actually I became that elected person, you know, the one who actually believes and falls for all their little jokes and antics! I had a toothache and my mom made an appointment with “the dentist!” When my siblings found out, they jumped at the opportunity to continue adding to the fear that was already imprinted in my mind! “The doctor will stick you with a Hypodermic needle that is 8 inches long!!!” Yes, fear again, but more of it. I pleaded with my mother not to take me there, to no avail. The day came and I climbed those same set of stairs and there standing at that same opened doorway was that man, “the dentist1”
Almost sick with fear, I sat down in that chair, paralyzed, I couldn’t lift my feet! And then he approached me and starting talking to me and he was really quite funny. He had me open my mouth while talking and I never saw “the needle” and in fact I never flet it either. The tooth was gone and all that fear in vane!
Now, that didn’t resolve all the fear of the needle, but it was a start. It took a while, even into adulthood to get me to a point of not liking needles, tolerating them, but I don’t fear them at all anymore.
Fear is an enemy! It can take control of you and rule your life. It’s like being in bound with chains! But there is someone who can help conquer that enemy! The Bible tells us we have not recieve a spirit of bondage again to fear, but we have received a Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry ABBA, Father! Yes, through Jesus!!!
Just a memory, a thought, just saying!
by Jim Kennedy