In my last post, I talked about how I didn’t take my Poison Ivy seriously at first. I must confess, I have a tendency to do that—to minimize a problem.

Unfortunately, I’m an anxious person—always have been. I could spiritually dissect that and tell you that my anxiety means I don’t have enough faith in God, which is very true. But this post is not about “Why I minimize” but rather “What minimizing does to my life”—and probably does to yours too if you let it.

• His daughter, Tamar, lost her virginity and her hope for the future.
• He lost two of his sons, Amnon and Absalom.
• He nearly lost his kingdom.

Hopefully, my minimizing ways won’t result in the degree of losses that King David experienced, but I know that my fear and minimizing ways have cost me, my family and my marriage. Here are just a few examples of my own minimizing ways …

• I’ve turned a blind eye when I’ve seen a problem that overwhelmed me.
• I’ve down-played a problem when my anxiety grew too high.
• I’ve stuck my head in the sand, hoping that my problem would simply go away if I couldn’t see it.

“Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power.” Ephesians 6:10 (NIV)