From "The Perfect Storm" to A Story of Hope

A few years ago, as the result of the "perfect storm" of circumstances, I was trapped in my garage for about eight minutes. Because I deal with some mild to moderate claustrophobia, eight minutes felt like an eternity to me. The door to get into the house was locked, I didn't have my key, the pad to open the garage was on the other side of that locked door, and I didn't have my phone to call someone to help me.  To make matters worse, after about 2 minutes, the light went out and I was in the pitch black.  

I pounded on the garage door, screaming for help, but it was raining, and the likelihood of someone hearing me was pretty slim. I was alone in the house and would be for at least the next 18 hours. The front door was wide open. The poor dog was barking hysterically. Claustrophobia and panic filled my mind with all kinds of absolutely worst-case scenarios. I was unable to think rationally or to pray anything except, "please help me Jesus." I repeatedly pressed the remote button so the overhead light would flash on for a second, hoping to find some means of escape. Finally, I saw a red cord that I now know is the emergency release. In retrospect, it’s likely that if I hadn't panicked right away, I might have seen that cord, and even though I wasn't certain of its purpose, I probably would have given it a pull and thereby escaped in short order. Some may think the entire situation sounds a bit silly, and that I simply overreacted and should have known there had to be an emergency release for the door.  Some have even said I should have been able to laugh about it all afterward.  But I didn’t find the situation to be amusing in any way. For the next 24 hours or so, my mind played the scenario over and over, adding in all kinds of "what if" situations. It didn't matter that I was free and uninjured. Each time the situation played out in my imagination, I felt a measure of panic again. I prayed that God would remove the power and effects of the incident, as I was incapable of stopping its repeated rehearsal in my mind on my own.  The Holy Spirit whispered a new story for me to tell myself when the thoughts invade, featuring God as the main character. He reminded me that there are situations in life that are reminiscent of the garage incident. Situations that feel dark and frightening and somehow inescapable. But God is always with me, extending His grace and compassion. He doesn’t judge my fear or uncertainty. Like the emergency release in the garage, He is my way out. My light in the midst of the darkness. He is FREEDOM. In the hard stuff of life, I may not understand why things are the way they are and may feel as though I am in the dark.  I may feel as if there is no way out. But Jesus is light, peace, and hope. He gives me courage to trust Him so I can keep moving forward, so I never need to feel alone or stuck. I don't have to be afraid. So when the enemy of my soul brings the dark garage incident to mind to stir up panic, or tries to convince me that difficult life situations are never going to change so that I will feel anxious, I can refute those lies and replace them with the TRUTH that - to put it simply - Jesus is my emergency release. He is the way out, and I can trust that while the door may open slowly, it WILL open, and there's always light on the other side. This is the God I love and serve. He redeems EVERY hard thing, and turns it around for my good and for His glory.   Even now, I occasionally have little flashes of memory of that day, especially if I happen to be in the garage and both the garage door and the door into the house are closed. But because of Jesus, I can take the thoughts about it captive and remind myself of the true narrative of HOPE instead of the false one of anxiety and fear. 

"For God alone, O my soul, wait in silence, for my hope is from him. He only is my rock and my salvation, my fortress; I shall not be shaken." ~ Psalm 62:5-6