Go slay your dragon

How often I have gained and lost my confidence under pressure. At first, I approach the situation tall and strong, but before the day is over, I find myself short and weak, even tongue tied with fear. What drives these roller coaster emotions? For me, I summed it up in one word: “insufficiency.”

Maybe that’s why I connected to a 1919 adventure story, entitled, The Fifty-First Dragon. It is a story about a young pupil named Gawaine enrolled in a knight’s school. Gawaine was short on courage.

His cowardness was significant enough to ruin the school’s reputation, but the Headmaster had other plans. He said, “I think I’ll train him to slay dragons.”

The Headmaster thought it was their responsibility to build character and it would happen for Gawaine. So, the Headmaster started training Gawaine slow and easy, until pretty soon Gawaine felt confident and strong. Finally, he was ready, but the Headmaster knew more was required, so he gave Gawaine a magic word, Rumplesnitz.

The lie he told Gawaine was if he said this word before battling a dragon, the dragon would have no power over him. It worked, because Gawaine became the best dragon slayer ever. To avoid spoiling the ending, let me just say, Gawaine discovered the truth and his confidence quickly reverted back to the fear that he was not enough – a fear of being insufficient.

How can one word change a coward into a world renown dragon slayer? Or, how can a person that achieved a renown dragon slayer’s reputation change back into a coward? One idea brought to my attention by my daughter is the placebo effect. A certain percentage of people given a placebo (fake pill) get better. Why? Because they think it is real medication and believe it will help.

Even the greatest heroes suffer from fear. Gideon was one of them. In the book of Judges, we read how he felt insufficient when he was asked to slay the Midianites. Judges 6:14 presented him a fast-track path straight to courageous living. The verse states, “then the Lord turned to him and said, ‘I will make you strong! Go and save Israel from the Midianites! I am sending you!’”

This was God telling Gideon, “I will use your insufficiency to reveal my sufficiency.” God didn’t ask Gideon to be any different. The Lord told him to go in the strength he already had. But, Gideon still needed a mental relief from his cowardly state of mind. He needed a placebo in the form of a sign.

In Judges 6:17-22, Gideon said, “If you find me acceptable, give me a sign that it is really you speaking to me.” And, so He did. Fire flared up from the rock and burned the meat and the bread.

I believe after Gideon saw the meat being burned up, he was ready to slay his enemy. But, when we do not act promptly, time can cause the short-term mental relief we sought after to diminish. And, once diminished, you find yourself embracing your old fears yet again. This is the case when we find Gideon seeking another sign in the form of a fleece in Judges 6:36-39.

Here’s the thing. When the All-Powerful God tells you to go, and more importantly, when He tells you I am going with you, then go. God will equip you by ascribing his qualities of power and might all over your thin-shell body and circumstances.

Without Him, your abilities will never be enough to conquer an army. A magic word may give you a short burst of courage, but it’s a counterfeit response without God.

You know this already, but I will say it again. We are His children with access to every spiritual gift He has. His arsenal of gifts and power is sufficient to slay dragons, root out fears, and even defeat Midianite situations. Now, go slay your dragon. •

Brenette Wilder of Lee’s Summit, Mo., (formerly of Altheimer, Ark.), is president of Kansas City Teen Summit. Her blog is available at wordstoinspire105953116. wordpress.com.