Do you know there are dragons in the Bible? You can find a story of a fight against a dragon in chapter 12 of the book of Revelation. There, we read about Michael and his angels casting out the great red dragon.

Well, we know that fire-breathing dragons are not actual animals but imaginary creatures that can seem to be rather scary. So why do you suppose this story about a dragon is in the Bible?

We know the Bible teaches us about God. Throughout the Scriptures we learn that God is always good and all-powerful, and that He loves and cares for all His children. When the Bible is showing how God keeps us safe, it sometimes says God's angels are with us or that He sends them before us or that an angel talks to someone. Michael is the name given to one angel. But angels are not winged creatures or persons.

What are angels? You can find that out in Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy. There angels are described in this way: "God's thoughts passing to man; spiritual intuitions, pure and perfect; the inspiration of goodness, purity, and immortality, counteracting all evil, sensuality, and mortality" (p. 581).

When the Bible says that Michael and his angels cast out the dragon, or evil, that reminds us that God, good, is the only power. We learn that if something frightens us, we can turn to God and His thoughts for help.

How do we do that? By being still and listening to the good ideas coming from God, divine Mind. Then we are reminded that God is our Father-Mother, who always cares for us, and that all He made is very good. That means we are good and perfect. These true thoughts from God destroy fearful thoughts and leave us feeling happy and well because we know we really are God's children. God's thoughts also help us understand there is no power in evil—whether it seems like a scary dragon or something else.

A friend of mine who is a Christian Science practitioner (a practitioner helps people by praying with them for healing) pointed out that there's a dragon in verse 13 of the ninety-first Psalm. The verse reads, "Thou shalt tread upon the lion and adder: the young lion and the dragon shalt thou trample under feet." These are all creatures that might seem frightening. Maybe the Bible is saying that we don't need to stop and stare at the thing that would try to frighten or impress us; instead, we can realize that God is all-powerful.

This inspiration encouraged me to pray about some warts that had bothered me for a long time. Instead of worrying, I now listened for God's thoughts. I understood that God created all, and that His creation, including me, is very good. This leaves no space for warts. Just because they had seemed real to me for a long time couldn't make them true or any part of me. The God thoughts that came to me were showing me that, as the child of God, I am spiritual, created in His likeness. I am constantly embraced and protected by God, who is Love.

Firmly I declared that God is all-powerful and that I am His child, totally pure. The problem of warts had no power to impress me and no place in my thoughts. Then one day I noticed the warts had completely disappeared.

There is no limit to the ways in which God's ideas can help us. My sister had headaches, and I told her a little about the angel thoughts that had come to me. I encouraged her to see the all-power and ever-presence of God, Love, and we refused to give the headaches any power. This must have healed her, because I soon heard from her that "the dragon had gone up in a puff of smoke!"

You don't need to be afraid of dragons or of dragon-like troubles. God is with you now and always, and so are His thoughts of love for you. In Psalm 91, the Psalmist also says this about God: "He shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways" (verse 11).