Ten-year-old Finnegan, lovingly known as "Finn", was blessed to live in a spacious house with a loving family and a closet full of toys and games. He was a handsome little fellow with short, wispy curls and a strong, healthy body. His neighborhood had beautiful sidewalks in the middle of red, blue, tan, and light yellow houses with bushes surrounding them. His faded blue house was in between a tan house and a yellow house with light green grass across medium sized lawns.
Finn enjoyed playing in the woods in the bright, hot sunshine. He built wooden forts with his friends and dueled against his buddies with long sticks that he found in the great outdoors. He played all day and still had energy to spare.
Most boys could only dream of having the kind of life Finn had. His world was safe and secure, so he spent lots of time imagining things. He thought about his upcoming birthday, and he envisioned battles between his Lego figures. Finn loved to think about make-believe things. But one day, Finn let his imagination take him down the wrong path.
Finn was listening to the little red radio in his bedroom. The voice on the radio was telling a true story about a young boy who suffered from leukemia. The boy in the story was very tired all the time. Finnegan thought to himself, "Wow. I get tired a lot. Maybe I have leukemia." Finn imagined that he had all of the symptoms the boy described on the radio had had. Finn couldn't get the thoughts out of his mind about how it would feel if he was hurting all the time, and how sad he would be if he lived in a lonely hospital room away from his family.
That very same night Finn's parents watched a movie based on a book by Charles Dickens. Finn asked if he could watch the movie along with his parents. The characters in the movie were very realistic. Things happened to the characters that could possibly happen in real life. The dramatic scenes frightened Finn.
As Finn sat on the tan couch in his living room, fear took hold of his imagination once again. Suddenly Finn wondered if the events in the movie could happen to him.
Later that evening Finn created scenarios in his mind. The things that Finn imagined kept him from falling asleep. All through the night Finn continuously got up from his bed and ran nervously down the hardwood steps to reach the door of his parents' bedroom. Finn asked his parents over and over if the things that happened in the movie could happen to him.
The next day Finn woke up with all of the same fears still churning in his thoughts. He was so sleep-deprived that everything in his day seemed gloomy and dark. Nothing seemed to go his way. Finn's mind only wanted to dwell on things that were wrong and untrue.
Finn's mood began to drown out everything that was pleasant in his life. Finn didn't want to play outside because he thought that a car might run him over and crush his body. He imagined that a wild, rabid bobcat would spring out of nowhere to attack him and give him a horrible case of rabies. Unrealistic thoughts, like Komodo Dragons smelling his flesh and creeping into his bedroom to devour him, overtook his ability to think clearly. Finn's daytime hours ticked by slowly as his thoughts prevented him from being productive. Academic work became a chore that Finn could barely keep his mind on.
Finn's whole family was very concerned about his negative outlook and reactions. His mom and dad saw that Finn was struggling with unbiblical fear. They were troubled that their son was no longer cheerful or content. Finn could not manage to make it through a day without grumbling, complaining, or crying. Several times a day Finn would burst into tears and become so angry at himself that he broke into a sweat. Frustration mounted throughout the family.
Countless times every day Finn's mom stopped her teaching or cleaning to pray with her discouraged son. They sat down side-by-side and his mother carefully taught Finn how to replace negative thoughts with truth from the Bible. His mom told Finn that constantly thinking fearful thoughts was displeasing to God. She told him that he needed to focus on God's character instead of allowing fear to grip him. Finn learned that fear is a result of sin, and perfect love casts out fear.
There were two things Finn could choose. One choice was to live in anguish, losing sleep every night and being grumpy and selfish all day long. The other choice was to repent from living in sinful fear and decide to concentrate on the goodness of God instead.
Finn knew that everything his mom was teaching him was true. Finn believed what his mother taught him from God's Word, but he knew that it would be extremely difficult to put into action. Deep desire to gain control of his mind led Finn to choose truth over wrong thinking. Finn decided to trust God and His Word to help him conquer the hideous lies coming from the fear in his heart.
The challenge before Finn was much like a violent sword fight. The enemy slashed through Finn's thoughts with a horrible worry about his parents dying in a car accident. Finn had already prepared for that moment by putting on the whole armor of God by reading his Bible that morning. The belt of truth protected Finn from a mortal wound. In his mind, Finn rehearsed Philippians 4:8, " Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable--if anything is excellent or praiseworthy--think about such things." Finn's mom taught him that things that have not yet happened cannot be true. His mom and dad had not been killed in a car accident, so his thoughts about their deaths were not true. Rather than dwell on an untruth Finn chose to remember how his mom and dad lovingly tucked him into bed every night. Finn used the Sword of the Spirit against the lies of Hell by thinking on something that was lovely and true. He felt revived and strengthened to experience his first victory over fear.
The next time Finn encountered the dreadful enemy of fear was when he imagined that a whirlwind of dust swiftly turned into a screaming, destructive tornado that was about to annihilate him. The helmet of salvation protected Finn. He remembered that because he was saved even if he was killed in a tornado he would immediately go to heaven to be with his Savior. Even a tornado could not separate Finn from the love of God. Finn fixed his mind on ways that God showed him love. God proved His love for Finn by placing him in family with a patient mom and dad to walk with him through his time of need. The Lord gave Finn energetic, creative friends to play with and enjoy time together. Finn had more than enough clothes and toys. God chose Finn to be one of His forgiven children in Christ.
As thankful thoughts grew larger in Finn's mind, his belief in God flourished more and more. Fearful ideas still popped into Finn's thoughts. The craziness of Finnegan's imagination never changed. But Finn kept working on fighting fearful lies with the truth of God's Word.
Day after day Finn memorized verses from the Bible. He wanted the rich words of Christ to fill his heart instead of letting fear dominate him. He depended on passages like Colossians 3:16, " Let the words of Christ, in all their richness, live in your hearts and make you wise. Use his words to teach and counsel each other. Sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs to God with thankful hearts." Finn's mind had less room for fear when it was full of truth from the Bible. This helped Finnegan to make the right choices in his life. Finn still went through times that are tough, like going to a new school. It took him a long time to get used to the homework and getting to know new people.
As an eleven-year-old boy Finn, still likes to play with Legos and toy guns. He has a family that loves him very much, even through hard times. Finn likes to play in the woods and make new friends. He enjoys finding hard sticks to fight with against his friends and still has energy to spare. He is a handsome young man and has grown an inch or two. Finn has learned so much through his challenges that he is using what he learned through his experience to help other people in their situations just like in 2nd Corinthians 1:3-4 " Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God."
Most boys could only dream of having the awesome life that Finn has. His world is safe and secure, he also spends lots of time imagining things. He thinks about his upcoming twelfth birthday, and he envisions battles between his Lego minifigures. Finn loves to think about make-believe things. But today, Finn does not let his imagination take him down the wrong path. He does not let fearful things grip his imagination and his mind. He believes on God and on things that are true, not false. When he lies in bed at night he chooses right thinking over wrong. Finn will use this important lesson throughout his life for the benefit of helping other people. In this battle of good and evil sin has not won; it has lost.