Fear is defined in the dictionary as “an unpleasant emotion caused by the belief that someone or something is dangerous, likely to cause pain, or a threat.” Some synonyms of fear are alarm, panic, distress, fright or dread. None of which we were ever to carry. I learn a lot about God’s love for us by my love for my children. The other day God blessed us with an opportunity to get away for a few days to the beach. I love the beach because it reminds me of the vastness of God and how his love never ends. As you look over the horizon at the sea it seems to go on forever. I love to get in the water and feel the waves move you and just enjoy God’s great creation. While at the beach I called my children to get in the water with my husband and I. As they came my oldest son stopped and said he wasn’t coming in. After telling him to come to me several times he began to panic and tell me he is not coming because he is scared. I told him again to come to me and I will hold him up and nothing would harm him. That wasn’t good enough. He was too focused on the waves, the fact he can’t swim and the thought he had that the waves would carry him out to sea never to come back again. So he screamed and screamed. I was trying to calm him down while his mind had taken him out to sea in the rushing waves while he was only standing on the shore with his life jacket on.
Then the Holy Spirit spoke to me. He said this is how you are when trouble comes. You panic, become fearful. Your focus is wrong. When trouble comes we focus on the problem. We see the waves coming one after another, non-stop and we think oh God this trouble is going to pull me under. It is going to take me out, way out to sea where no one can get me. You remember the definition of fear? There is a huge part no one notices, the word “belief.” Meaning all our fear is in our mind. So in my son’s mind he had already ended what hadn’t even began yet. As I was trying to convince him he wasn’t even focused on me. His eyes were out at sea looking in terror at the waves and repeating, mommy please don’t take me out there I am scared. Just like we do, screaming to God please don’t take me out there I am scared. In the mean time God is saying trust me. Look I even gave you a life jacket and most importantly you are coming out here with me.
In this experience God showed me a few things. First, fear is in our minds. He never even left the shore before he started freaking out about what was to come. Don’t we do that? Next, I learned what God means when he says we were never to carry the weight of the stress. As sat and looked at my son, all I could think about was to calm him down or his little body is going to have a heart attack. His heart was racing in fear. It was unnatural. God said for us to be still. Be at peace in him because he can calm the sea. Last, I saw God’s love again as I pressed in determined to calm my son not stopping until he was calm. I never left him. Just as God never leaves us. He never stops trying to calm us and show us that he has it under his control. Isn’t God great! And for those of you that were curious how it ended, he got in the water with me. He enjoyed riding through the waves on my back and he conquered his fear and I taught him about all the Holy Spirit taught me. Then my son taught me one last lesson. He is very observant and he noticed the waves were bringing us back to shore as they rolled in. So I laughed as the Holy Spirit said, see God brings you out to free you so he can move you back to shore. All with a new freedom in him. Now that out to make you want to shout! God is so good to us.
Scripture References: 2 Timothy 1:7, Isaiah 41:10, Psalm 46:10, Exodus 14:14, Psalm 107:29
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