Hair Straighteners & Houses on Fire

Overcoming irrational, and sometimes silly, fear

By: Meghan Mukri, CKM Speaker

I carry my hair straightener with me everywhere. If by chance it gets to stay at home, its most likely laying on a kitchen counter, or rolled up and left by the front door. I asked my husband on our way out the door the other day, “hey this thing is turned off, right?” And as he looked at the straightener laying on the floor, 3 yards from the nearest outlet, he sweetly replied, “babe, you need to ask the Lord to help you to conquer this fear.”  The pride in me wanted to snap back, and I was slightly embarrassed! Why couldn’t he just say it was off? It would have been so simple for him to reply, “yup, its off!” and we could both carry on with our day.

But instead, he named it for what it was: Fear.

Many years ago, I left a straightener on for an entire day. Plugged in, hot as ever, and it burned through a piece of plastic and made the entire room smell terrible. I got home and instead of being thankful for the small amount of damage that came from my mistake, I began to dwell in worst-case scenarios. And there it was. A moment when I let fear rule over my mind, and I am STILL dealing with the “what if’s” years later. Fear has taken root, and unless my loving, sweet husband who has lived with me all of two months called that reaction for what it was, I would have continued to let that habit, controlled by fear, reign in my mind for years to come.

As believers, we have to learn to replace those lies with truth. Our loving, patient, understanding Heavenly Father says that He has not given us a spirit of fear, but of POWER, and LOVE, and a SOUND MIND (2 Timothy 1:7).  Fear is not of Him! He does not desire that we be crippled by fear, or driven by lies. In HIM we have truth, and can experience freedom over these lies that have whispered to us for so long, that we can’t imagine life without them.  

I have found the best way to replace the fear is to ask the Lord to remind me of truth in those moments. Maybe for you this means choosing a verse to memorize so when fear trickles in, you can be reminded of what is true, honorable, and right. Sometimes, I even give myself a pep-talk in weak moments and say, “Lord help me to remember that I am yours, fear does NOT control me, and I am going to win this battle and decide to believe TRUTH over this lie.”

You may even need to ask someone to come stand beside you like a friend, mentor, or your parents, as you learn to rewire your habits and patterns you have created as a reaction to that fear. I know it's not easy, but I do know that the freedom you will receive as you learn to walk in truth DAILY, will be more rewarding than you could ever imagine.

Rest in this truth today:


- Isaiah 41:10

Meghan Mukri serves as our Missions Director here at CKM. She coordinates and runs our missions programs and loves to speak and share about different cultures, world religions, reaching the lost, and serving locally or internationally. Meghan also loves to speak to young women about how much they are valued by the Lord, and how all women can and should strive to believe the truth of the Gospel and fight against lies the world throws at them. 

Follow her on Instagram & Twitter: @megmukri