Vacuum Cleaners are Scary

Vacuum cleaners are scary – at least to 2 year olds.

My son is extremely scared of the vacuum. When he hears that powerful cleaning machine turn on, a look of dread appears on his face. He quickly runs to find a place to hide. Today, when he was alerted to the noise of a vacuum turning on, he came and sat next to me. Knowing his fear, I put my arm around him and held him close. As my wife vacuumed the floor, he calmed down and looked up at me and said, “I like it.” How could he go so quickly from living in a state of fear to now being in a state of peace? Because he found his stronghold. My son found a place of refuge from the “scary” vacuum. He discovered it in his father.

Psalm 27:1b (ESV) “The Lord is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?”

We each face many fears in our lives. Maybe it’s the fear of failure, or the fear of an uncertain future, or the fear of losing something precious to you. And since we are constantly bombarded with these fears, we seek out strongholds to keep us safe. But what happens is that many of these places of refuge lack the power to take away our fears.

Most of us find our refuge in ourselves. We try to control the situation and yet that doesn’t always work as often things are out of our control. An example of this “self-stronghold” mentality is that we focus all of our energy into putting everything into place.

I will get a good job, so that I will never have to worry about struggling with finances.

I will think about every single worst-case scenario, so that I am prepared for anything.

I will put a ‘bubble’ around my kids, so that nothing bad ever happens to them.

These “self-stronghold” maneuvers may work sometimes, but they surely don’t work every time because they are incapable of always being reliable. They may look like sure strongholds, but they aren’t. That ‘bubble’ will break at times and your child will get hurt. That good job isn’t promised to be there forever.

So then what can you do when fears assail? Find your refuge in the Lord. 

As I thought about how I was my son’s stronghold against the vacuum, I remembered that I can’t always be there to hold him close and calm him down. Even when I am with him, I can’t always protect him against all that life brings. So he must have a better stronghold. He must find his refuge in the Lord. That’s where all anxiety dissipates and where we find true peace. In reality, I can’t always be there when my son is fearful, yet God will always be there.

My son found his stronghold in his father today, but I pray that someday he will realize that the best stronghold is found in his Heavenly Father.

You will face bigger and more complex fears than a vacuum cleaner, but thankfully, we have a bigger and more complex Person to trust in. So find your refuge in the Lord.