Curiosity Saved The Cat

It’s October, and that means stores are filled with costumes, houses are adorned with pumpkins, and children are eager to eat as much candy as possible.

I don’t know whether or not you celebrate Halloween, but I do know this is a month where we make fear fun. We purposefully watch scary movies, look at the frightening decor, and literally walk through haunted houses that contain all of our worst nightmares.

As much as I love a good thriller, the concept has always confused me. I have a confession for you, reader: most of my life feels like October. I struggle with fear and anxiety so often that the idea of intentionally adding more of it for a whole month makes me chuckle. I don’t need a haunted house! My brain already finds 100 ways to be scared.

Do you struggle with fear? Are you up at night worrying about finances? Are you terrified whenever your boss sends a calendar invite, always worrying you are one mistake away from unemployment? Is there a nagging worry that your friend or spouse will betray you? I don’t know what fear looks like in your life. But I know it can be all-consuming.

The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?

- Psalm 27:1

When we are utterly consumed with fear, it’s hard to imagine just choosing to “not be afraid.” But I want you to notice what the writer does in Psalm 27 - he asks questions.

If the Lord is my stronghold, what on earth could possibly scare me?

I was in a recent therapy session (yes even professional Christians go to therapy, you should do it too!) when my therapist challenged a recent struggle I was having with fear. I was describing this overwhelming sense of anxiety and dread about a situation that I couldn’t solve. There wasn’t an end in sight, and I knew that I would have to sit in the fear without finding immediate relief. She challenged me to respond with curiosity instead of fear.

Rather than festering in the worry and worst-case scenarios, I could choose to learn from this experience. I could choose to ask myself some important questions:

• What is my body feeling?
• What does this response tell me about what I value?
• How can I learn about what I need in the future, from this current fear?
• How can I use this struggle to learn about the character of God and my relationship with him?

It sounds simple. But in the last few weeks, I have paused in the panic, taken out my journal, and chosen curiosity. I have worked through these questions. I’ve been honest with God. I’ve learned a lot about him and myself. And suddenly - the fear isn’t the enemy. Suddenly, the fear might even be a friend, because it is allowing me to learn about myself, and my Savior.

I wonder what it would look like to shift the narrative in your life from fear to curiosity.

Friend, you are going to face a lot of fear. Our world is broken and scary. The fear is guaranteed. You can let it ruin you, or you can choose to see it as an opportunity to learn. Some say that curiosity killed the cat, but when it comes to fear, I think curiosity saves it.

May you navigate all the big and scary with a spirit of curiosity. And may you feel the peace of Jesus, comforting you even in the darkest of night.

Today I pray over you a portion of Psalm 91:

9 If you say, “The Lord is my refuge,”

   and you make the Most High your dwelling,

10 no harm will overtake you,

   no disaster will come near your tent.

11 For he will command his angels concerning you

   to guard you in all your ways;

12 they will lift you up in their hands,

   so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.

13 You will tread on the lion and the cobra;

   you will trample the great lion and the serpent.

14 “Because he[b] loves me,” says the Lord, “I will rescue him;

   I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name.

15 He will call on me, and I will answer him;

   I will be with him in trouble,

   I will deliver him and honor him.

16 With long life I will satisfy him

   and show him my salvation.”

Cristina Schmitter

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