Autophobia

What are you afraid of? Heights? Snakes? Public speaking? Chickens? Yes, alektorophobia (the fear of chickens) is a real thing! So is coulrophobia (the fear of clowns), dentophobia (the fear of dentists), and microphobia (the fear of small things). A person with helio- (sun) and herpeto- (reptile) phobias might not want to live in Florida, and if you happened to have papyrophobia (the fear of paper) and arithmophobia (the fear of numbers), that math homework is never getting done! Autophobia (the fear of being alone) is something we can all raise our hands for. We dread the thought of being left out, abandoned, or forgotten. A shortage of presence can easily send us into panic or leave us feeling paralyzed. After four hundred years of slavery in Egypt, the Lord used His mighty hand to rescue His people. But as they walked away from all they had ever known, fear set in. Their leader, Moses, met with God on Mt. Sinai, but the meeting took so long, the people got autophobic and built a golden calf to worship and call their “god.” What the people of Israel didn’t know was, in that very meeting on Mt. Sinai, God was giving Moses instructions for the tabernacle: “Make a sanctuary for me, and I will dwell among them,” He said (Exodus 25:8). This tent would be a tangible reminder that their God was always right there with them. When Jesus died on the cross, the curtain of the temple was torn in two, releasing the presence of God to be wherever His followers are. Cleansed by His grace, we are now the “sanctuary” where God dwells on this earth! My instincts may tell me to bolt headlong in the other direction when I see a chicken, but I never have to fear being alone. Wherever I am, God is also right there! • Mandy Desilets • Read Colossians 3:16. What are three ways you can become more aware of God’s presence when you’re feeling alone? Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in your midst? 1 Corinthians 3:16 (NIV)

Read Verses:

Exodus 29:42-46; 32:1-4; 1 Corinthians 3:16