Gripped by Fear

My daughter had worked so hard in school and was rewarded with good marks on her report card. As a treat, I promised she and I would go see the much anticipated Peanuts movie because who doesn’t love Charlie Brown and Snoopy 🙂 Well, our plans were to go after church yesterday and when I asked her if she was excited she was reluctant to answer.

As you all know on Friday, events began to unfold about an attack in Paris where innocent people lost their lives for no apparent reason other than hate. My daughter caught a glimpse of this on the news and she quickly became gripped with fear. She asked tons of questions of why and how, hearing that the people were only attending a concert or restaurant and their lives were so quickly taken from them. She was fearful that it could happen to us at the movies or somewhere else.

“There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear…” 1 John 4:18

I could physically see the fear on her so I sat her down and told her about God’s perfect love and how it cast out all fear. I explained how God loves us and protects us and will only allow what is good for us. Even if He were to allow tragedy in our lives, He promises to use it for our good. As she cried and struggled to understand God at another level I felt the Holy Spirit gently whisper to my heart, “this is for you too.”

I still struggle with fear. Fear of failure, fear of getting it wrong, fear of what others may think…it’s different from my daughter’s fear…but fear nonetheless. Fear is crippling…it grabs a hold of the insecure places in our life and plants itself there to destroy our belief and confidence. Once planted, fear takes root and expands into other areas of our life keeping us sedentary and hindering us from stepping into the fullness of what God has for us.

“Every word of God is flawless; he is a shield to those who take refuge in him.” Proverbs 30:5

As I tried to calm my daughter’s anxious heart with the word of God and examples of how He has loved and protected us our whole life, I felt the Holy Spirit doing the same for me. God is faithful, His word is true and His will for my life can be trusted. I am NOT perfect, I AM going to make mistakes and I AM going to disappoint others…but if I don’t pursue the absolute most out of the life I’ve been given, what have I really done? There is work to be done and a world that needs saving and we all have a part to play. Let’s not shrink back and watch others grab ahold of their destiny. I encourage you to get alone with God and find out what it is He wants you to do and GO AFTER IT with everything in you!

For the families of those tragically killed in Paris, my heart is broken for you and I pray you see God’s goodness in the days, weeks, months and years to come. May you turn your eyes upon Him and allow Him to carry you during this time.

To my sweet Maddy, what a fun time we had at the movies!! I’m proud of you for moving ahead, even in fear. You are going to change the world! XOXO