I have sweet memories of cuddling in the covers with my grandchildren on winter nights, pajamas and bare feet, little cheeks smelling like soap fresh from the bathtub, and a stack of books waiting to be read before lights out. One of our favorite bedtime stories, written by Irene Keller, went something like this:

    Benjamin Rabbit had a hard time sleeping at night because he was convinced there was a monster under his bed. Benjamin could see it. “It was large as life, and as big as a house, with one huge red eye right in the middle of its forehead. And it was looking right at Benjamin!”

    When Benjamin cried out to Mother Rabbit, she came quickly and brought a “Monster Remover.” Even though it looked and smelled much like a can of air freshener, when Mother turned on the light and sprayed great swooshes of Monster Remover under the bed the intruder disappeared. When the room was flooded with light, Mother Rabbit said, “See, it wasn’t a monster. It was only the moon shining on your bicycle reflector. It just looked like a big red eye!”

    Recently, while having a restless night, I remembered Benjamin’s dilemma. At three o’clock in the morning, there was something like a monster in my bedroom. Unlike Benjamin’s monster, my unwelcome intruder did not hide under the bed, but rather boldly perched upon my shoulder and began filling my mind with foreboding thoughts. He told me that my future would be much worse than my past and that it was my fault because I was inadequate in every way. His most impressive lie was that my current problem was unsolvable and that God no longer heard my prayers.

    Although I am, by day, a sensible grownup grandmother, the truth is that those condemning thoughts are just as real to me on a dark night as Benjamin Rabbit’s red-eyed monster was to him. I meditated on those words, and the more I thought about it, they made perfect sense! My problems did seem impossible; there were apparently no answers, and I asked myself, if God was listening why hadn’t He answered my prayers already?

    I became more and more agitated and fear dominated my mind. I tossed and turned, but I could not shake that silly voice off my shoulder. There was nothing to do but to get out of bed and turn on a light. With the click of the light, my monster thoughts began to retreat. And when I opened my Bible, I saw my silly monster as clearly as Mother Rabbit had seen that harmless bicycle reflector.  

    I read: “For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope. When you pray I will listen. If you look for Me wholeheartedly, you will find me” (Jeremiah 29:11-13).

    “Casting the whole of your care (all you anxieties, all your worries, all your concerns, once and for all) on Him, for He cares for you affectionately and cares about you watchfully” (1 Peter 5:7).