Category: Fear

10/20/2020

'Dr. Jeff and Mr. HIDE'

As I roller coaster through the amusement park of life past the sideshows of a bearded lady, the two headed cow and the tattooed sword swallowing vicar I realize again.. LIFE IS A RIDE.

My rollercoaster existence leaves me at times exhilarated while other times ready to BARF. These twists and turns in my life do expose my Dr Jeffrey and Mr. Hide (like a less sinister version of Dr Jekyll & Mr Hyde) personality quirks. I am Dr Jeffrey when all is good, but Mr Hide but rises up as my rollercoaster dips and there is a big bend up ahead.

AND yes I did mean to say Mr. Hide (not Hyde).. 'Good grief I am cartoonist not a monster’.

My alter ego Mr. Hide unfortunately appears when my "I'm ok facade" is threatened to be exposed by my collection of insecurities, mistakes and bad choices. Better to hide and live to fight another day.. or something like that.

Mr. Hide wants others to see me as a success. A man with a career, admired, and a man of status, and dashing good looks. Mr. Hide promotes the illusion that he is confident, funny, never depressed, and has never struggled with substance abuse. Oh there are many other things Mr. Hide hides from others, but you get the idea.

Right now as I type I am in one of times I want to hide. An unfair circumstance mixed in with a dash of my special brand of stumbling/bumbling has me looking for a hiding place. And HEY IT'S 2020 and no better year to want to HIDE.

LOL, I guess sharing it in my blog is not a very good hiding place.

But while I want to hide, or at least get away I know none of my circumstance surprised God. I am sure He did not slap his forehead and declare.. "Wow, now that's a new one."

Anyways, I choose to put my trust in God. I could quote a ba-zillion verses about God's love for me, but I will keep it simple and share the oft quoted Psalm 23.

1 The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing. 2 He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, 3 he refreshes my soul. He guides me along the right paths for his name’s sake. 4 Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. 5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. 6 Surely your goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

Another reason not to hide.. God's people.. 1 Corinthians 12:25-26  25 so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. 26 If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.

So today I pray God bless, care, and restore each of you when life seems to have replaced your highs with lows. Remember..  If God is for ME, who can be against ME? Ro 8:31

Jeff (over exposed?) Larson

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8/18/2020

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The Alcatraz of my Mind 2020

I wrote this blog a couple years ago, and found it fitting today more than ever in 2020.

2 Corinthians 10:5 We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.

With this great scripture in mind, I feel sometimes like I am serving 60 years to life in the Alcatraz of my Mind. Instead of holding every thought captive obedient to Christ I may wander and become a captive to my thoughts.

In these times my weary brain becomes lost in the tasks of another anxious day living in this very broken spinning out of control world leaving me frazzled, weary, and downright .. pouty.

Now pouty may be cute when it is my 4 year old granddaughter, but when it is 63 year old Jeff.. just ask my wife Mary, it's not cute.

So what do I do? I read aloud again 2 Corinthians 10:5 We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.

To be very frank, 2020 a dumpster fire of a year. It is the year of Covid-19, race tensions rivaling the 1960s, anarchist groups like Antifa, and BLM , and civil disobedience all wrapped up in an Election year where the MSM has become the National Enquirer with an agenda that has little to do with reporting the news. When STORY is more important to the MSM than TRUTH, we have a problem.

So how does 2 Corinthians 10:5 fit in to 2020? I believe It fits in perfectly.

My hope is not in man and certainly not the goodness of man.
My hope is my Savior Jesus Christ not any man
My hope is in my Creator, not the 2020 elections. and..
My hope is my God who is greater than any pandemic panic.

When 2020 shouts "PANIC.. It's the end of the world!".. I must take that panic and make it obedient to Christ. My prayer is to be found faithful and trusting in Him now more than ever.

This will be my life long process of returning to this scripture truth when my anxious, jealous, lazy, angry, compromised etc etc thoughts occupy the podium in my brain. Christ must be the answer.. He is my hope. So here ya go Jesus.. THANKS!

May God bless each of you this day where God's perfect Truth & Love is the answer when your thoughts are have you locked in the cell next to mine on the Alcatraz of your Mind.

Jeff

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7/17/2020

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Yes, those WAVES are real!

Most of us remember the story of Jesus telling Peter to walk on water, but as 'Pete' noticed the VERY REAL waves about him and as the seeming nonsense of walking on water began to sink in.. so did Peter.

When I was younger I thought “Oh Pete of little faith, I would have done cartwheels on the sea with my perfect faith of Jesus intact”. But now after wading around in the seas of life’s experience.. I see the waves in my life are just as real as those literal waves Peter faced 2000 years or so ago, and at best I look like Gilligan hollering for SKIPPER!..

but of course this analogy falls flat as I am not comparing the Skipper with Jesus... and I am too 'husky' to be Gilligan... BUT I DIGRESS!

So with my assessment that my faith is often at best an undersized mustard seed as I choose to get out of the boat and trust God. I may sink at times like Peter but.. the same Jesus who calmed the seas, healed the sick, fed the multitudes,walked on water, and rose from the grave is my answer to life’s figurative (but VERY REAL) waves of health, finance, family, or fear.

I could expound on this fact, as like many of you I experience seasons of waves, and tests that put my trust in God to the test.

Trust in the Lord with all your heart soul and mind and lean not unto your own understanding .. in all your ways acknowledge Him and He will direct your paths. Pr 3:5-6

EASY WORDS to say.. DIFFICULT WORDS to comprehend just like walking on water MAKES NO SENSE.. but I choose to believe both to be true.

May God bless each of you this day in your journey. May we all learn to trust God when life is great, when life is difficult, or when all seems lost.

Trust in the Lord as your providence, Trust in the Lord as your source for answers, Trust in the Lord for blessings, and Trust in the Lord for perspective that is beyond the limits of any circumstance.. so even when the waves swell and the storms rage.. we can give the triumphant shout..

SURFS UP Blessings!

Jeff (flappable) Larson

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6/6/2020

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Rescue Dogs and God (rr)

My wife and I have a rescue dog named Cooper and I have written a 'beautiful' poem that captures my life with him.

Ode to Cooper
Cooper is our little rescue dog;
there's no doubt he LOVES my wife Mary,.
BUT despite the fact I 'm the one who rescued him;
.. for me.. Cooper remains wary.
I so want Cooper to love me too..
but he's a work in progress..
You see Cooper does not trust me ..
leaving me judged without due process.

Thank you, thank you
But then I stop and realize.. I am SORTA a rescue dog too.

For example, in this big old bad world I might turn on the evening news and .. I get uneasy as I can sense the tension EVERYWHERE, so I start to growl at partisan politics as I pace the room.

My demeanor only gets worse as these 'News SHOWS' spew this world's hatred, racism, and violence all wrapped in their biased narrative void of truth leaving me ..

out of control barking my panic and distrust of this world.

This state of panic and unease over just the evening news can leave me in reality wary of my God. He is my perfect loving Heavenly Father, Jesus my Savior, and the Holy Spirit my comforter. My God is my RESCUER from both the evening news and anything else found in this broken world.

So just like Cooper I need to chill. Chill and realize this broken world is the result of man's own free will, and compromised desires. This brokenness was never a part of God's plan.

So chill Jeff, and realize in God I have hope, a future, and a plan for happiness. So Jeff.. No more barking.

May each of us find our hope (our rescue) in the loving Heavenly Father who sent his son Jesus as our savior, and his Holy Spirit as our comfort.

note: God is still our rescuer even when we bark.

Now if Cooper would only understand that about me.

Jeff (Rescued) Larson

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5/18/2020

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Essentially Essential

In this world of Essentials we have ..'Essential Oils' (5 quarts of motor oil?).. the 'Essential Van Morrison' album compilation, and now ..our government in Pandemic lockdown mode determines which businesses are 'essential'.

The disturbing twist of secular PANICdemic irony is this list of essential businesses include liquor stores, and Planned Parenthood while church gatherings are too 'risky' aka non-essential. In some states you can buy 'weed' (dude) but you can't buy weed killer (garden store).

It is a good thing Mother Theresa is not serving today in my home state of Minnesota where her 'willy nilly non-essential' orphanage and leprosy mission works would not be tolerated.. unless these lepers and orphans also tested Covid-19 positive.

It is obvious by my sarcasm I bristle over our Government's mandated (but ever changing) good, bad, &ugly list of essentials,non-essentials, and social distancing guidelines. But though I bristle I have remained law abiding through my clenched teeth and grumbled tones.

Then I heard a little sermon snippet of 'sunlight' from a Pastor in South Bend Indiana (Pastor YPJ). The just of it his message was to be prayerful & smart in our response to Coronavirus but remember our focus is on Revival not Survival.

With this bit of sunlight in mind, I may listen to Dr Fucci, and weed through the ever changing CDC labyrinth of scenarios, but in none of them do I find hope. Societies message is temporal and 'non-essential' by the Gospel message is life, hope for today and tomorrow, and essentially essential.

I will be smart, I will be safe, but I will not live in fear.

May God bless and use each of you this week in ways that are beyond your dreams. May you feel His protection and love that transcends the fears of men... May we find life in His Words, and a Revival of our hope.

To paraphrase an old Superman slogan.. "This is a job for Supernatural Man" filled by God's Spirit.

Jeff (The Essential Back Pew) Larson

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'Dr. Jeff and Mr. HIDE'

The Alcatraz of my Mind 2020

Yes, those WAVES are real!

Rescue Dogs and God (rr)

Essentially Essential

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