As a young child my favorite Bible verse was Psalm 56:3 which says “When I am afraid, I will trust in you.”
It is assumed that when we grow older and wiser there are certain things we ‘grow out of’. If you needed a night-light when you’re seven, it’s generally understood that you won’t need one when you’re twenty-seven – though I know some exceptions. Right now my daughter is scared to death of vacuum cleaners. She doesn’t even allow the closet door the machine is stored in to be opened. Theoretically she should grow out of that fear. (At least I hope so, so she can vacuum as one of her chores!)
While what we fear should change when we grow older, HOW we respond to fear shouldn’t. When we’re young and we encounter fear we respond by running, unapologetically and without abandon to the one who can help us. However, when we grow older, more independent, more self-conscious and more self-confident we can be hesitant to respond the right way when we’re afraid.
When you’re older it sometimes goes like this:
“When I am afraid, I will trust in me”
“When I am afraid, I will pretend I’m not”
“When I am afraid, I will learn to cope with my fear”
“When I am afraid, I will run and hide”
“When I am afraid, I will try to fix it, but if all else fails I’ll pray”
When my little girl is afraid, she runs with arms wide open to me our her mother. She doesn’t care what her little friends think or her society thinks. She doesn’t try to ‘handle’ it. She knows who to go to when she feels afraid, and comes running.
What about us? Is our Heavenly Father the last person we turn to when we are afraid? Or, do we throw our self-confidence and self-image to the wind and go running to Him?
When I am afraid, I will trust in Him!
– Brad
