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You've seen those movies. You know, the one where a woman arrives home alone, kicking off her shoes after a long day at work. But suddenly, she hears a noise. The thumping of footsteps. Scratching sounds. Coming from behind the cellar door.

Frightened, her imagination runs wild. She doesn't want to open that door. She hates the cellar. It's dark with evil forebodings. Full of dust-covered trunks holding stuff she doesn't want to remember.

"Run!!" you think as you watch. "Call out! Scream!" But she can't. She's drawn inexorably towards the sound, even though the scary music plays in the background. She should know better--have some common sense! But she has to know what's there. Who's there. And what might happen to her.

Against her better judgment, her hand slowly reaches for the knob. About to open the door to trouble. 

This is the point I always yell at the screen. "Don't do it! Are you nuts?" But they always do. It's in the script.

Too bad. Because this behavior is in our scripts, too, SuperGals and Guys. It is the dark places--the cellars of our minds--that scratch at our doors. Thump up our steps. That's where are fears lie. There, in the dark corners of our heads. Behind the cellar doors, the trap doors. Where Satan lurks.

We hear him scratching, luring us away from what we know is right. Unable to resist, we grab our own dim flashlights. We fearfully head down the creaking, rickety steps. Our eyes scan the blackness, searching the shadows for answers. We timidly push open the dusty trunks of guilt and shame. Relying on ourselves alone to try to ward off a scary ending.

Yes, go ahead. Go searching for the boogeyman in your head. You're sure to find him. Hiding in the dark, shrouded in lies. He'll lunge out of the blackness, clawing at you. Chasing you. Grabbing at your ankles as you try to scramble back up the cellar steps to safety.

Next time you feel the fear, hear the things that go bump in the night, run to that door in your mind.

But don't dare open it. It's Satan's trap door.

Next time, throw a padlock of prayer over the broken chain.

Next time, jam a chair of thankfulness and gratitude under the doorknob.

Next time, call out for help. God's help. First.

And forget trying to chase away shadows with your own dim light. Instead, switch on the Light of the World. And watch those shadows flee.

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. ~Phillipians 4:6 NIV