Fear

Fear is something that's getting a lot of talk time around our house lately. Carson has, for the past couple of weeks, been completely overcome by the fear that our house is going to catch on fire. He goes to bed worrying about it, he gets up in the middle of the night worried about it, he wakes up worried about it. We do our best to calm his fears, to pray with him, and to teach him what to do if he ever does find himself in that situation. As a mom, it's tough. I wish I could say that houses never caught on fire or that he'd never find himself in a scary situation, but that's not true. (The house I grew up in burned down when I was in third grade.) I can tell him it's not likely. I can teach him how to handle it if it ever does happen. I can tell him it's not worth wasting his every minute worrying about something that's probably not going to happen, and that even if it did, I'd stop at nothing to make sure he was safe.

I've found that God has really been speaking to me in this as he turns the mirror on me. I don't spend hours worrying about my house catching fire, but I fear and worry about a lot of other things... money, car accidents, business, ministry... there's a long list of things. I spend so much of my time lying awake at night being fearful over one thing or another when God's saying, "It's going to be okay. I'll show you what to do. I'll stop at nothing to make sure that you're okay. I'm here." When I take the time to stop and hear that, it brings peace. I've got to be better about taking time to hear his voice and listen to his guidance because "perfect love casts out fear." (1 John 4:18)

Have I not commanded you? Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go. Joshua 1:9