by Rhonda Rhea

OK, I realize some of you hardly ever wear tights so you probably won’t totally get this. But anyone else who’s suffered from “medium denial” will sooo feel my pain.

Especially when I mention that whole song and dance number a girl’s got to do to try to writhe into one of those pair of tights that’s gone completely rogue size-wise. It’s bad enough that as soon as we arrive in that between-size zone, there’s a mind game that begins. At the first realization that we’re in grave danger of going up a size, fear gets us in a grip that’s tighter than an XS.

Sometimes there are even voices in our heads. And they don’t whisper. They’re yelling “No! Not going to happen! I will stretch these size small tights from here to Guam if I have to. I’m 5 feet tall and I positively refuse to be a medium!”

I’m not sure how I figure that stretching those small tights within an inch of their poor little elastic lives is going to make me look like I did 20 pounds ago anyway. That really is a stretch.

Oh well, maybe I’m just revealing entirely too much from my own little stockpile of personal fears.

Fears Flee in His Presence

Fear, from the trivial to the deadly serious, can be startlingly powerful. It can absolutely surprise us as we sense it squeezing the breath right out of us and pinching our attempts to walk out our life of faith. But isn’t it amazing that as we breathe in the presence of the God of light, our fears immediately begin to fade away?

In Psalm 27:1 (HCSB), David gives himself a bit of a pep talk when he reminds himself, “The LORD is my light and my salvation—whom shall I fear? The LORD is the stronghold of my life—of whom should I be afraid?”

When we know His saving grace and have experienced His life-changing light, fear suddenly seems silly. And when we think about the fact that our all-powerful God manifests Himself in radiant light and then consider all the amazing things light does, we can’t help but see our courage bolstered, just as David did.

Light illuminates so we can see where we’re going. Light helps protect us from danger. It provides security. Light even enables growth and warmth. Any time we’re afraid, as we look to Him in all His light and ponder His power, we can find the Lord stretching us. Fears fade. Courage is renewed.

We can see the truth and can think more clearly. Paul said in 2 Timothy 1:7, “For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind” (NKJV). By His marvelous light, He provides the good kind of stretch in every tight situation.

And also in every “tights” situation.

Rhonda Rhea is a humor columnist, radio personality, and author of multiple books, including How Many Lightbulbs Does It Take to Change a Person? You also may enjoy her article “Skittles: The Secret Measure of a Person’s Love.”

Scripture quotations marked HCSB are taken from the Holman Christian Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2009 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. Holman Christian Standard Bible®, Holman CSB®, and HCSB® are federally registered trademarks of Holman Bible Publishers.

Scripture marked NKJV taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.