BE NOT AFRAID

A couple of weeks ago the grandkids and I were talking and we got to laughing about me as a kid being scared of things. I told them of some of the things my brothers and sister had done to me to scare me because I was such an easy target. As a kid I was known in our family as the big chicken, scaredy- cat or what ever else you can come up with for some one who was afraid of everything. I mean I was afraid of my own shadow and my siblings took advantage of that. I was afraid of the dark and that someone would get me. I was afraid that when my sister held a pillow over my face I would suffocate. They would hide in the house and jump out and scare me. I was afraid of the unknown also, like when I got up at night to go to the restroom, I was afraid that maybe someone had gotten in the house and was waiting to grab me. I just wasn’t sure because I wasn’t able to see down the long dark hallway so the uncertainty of not knowing if someone was there or not really scared me.. I was afraid of heights and closed in places, I was really claustrophobic. I truly was a person that got scared easily and by everything.
We laughed and laughed at all the antics that were played on me and how I reacted. Like the time my parents were gone and my sister decided to scare my brother and I. She went to the basement and made a lot of noise so we went outside to go in the garage and see if we saw anything. We got scared and ran back up to the front door and as I started in it there she stood. I was frozen in place screaming. I saw it was her but I was so frightened that what I saw and what my brain was telling me was two different things. Or how about the time when my little brother at night decided to get into the back of our suburban while I was in my parents house and when I came out he sat up and I scrambled out of that vehicle as fast as I could screaming. See they liked to scare me because it was so easy and my mind turned to mush and didn’t register that it was them until it was too late.
I really was afraid of everything and it was traumatic for me to get up at night. My poor grandmother, bless her soul, had to go with me to stand guard at the bathroom door at night to make sure no one was down that hall and was just waiting to grab me when I came out. She was my security and she never complained. She was my protector and security blanket.
I told them that when I got sick at first it was the not knowing what was wrong that was the worst part. I was slowly getting to where I couldn’t breath or stand or even hold my head up and they didn’t know why. I explained how I could have slipped right back into that fearful person but I had my security, my protector , and my Saviour Jesus to help me through.
Is. 41:10 “Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.”(KJV) See all I had to do was turn it all over to Jesus and he was, like my grandmother my security and my protector. I didn’t have to live in fear but knew that God had it all in control. Psalm 27 says that we don’t have to fear and that the Lord is our strength. Ps. 27:1 “The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? the LORD is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?” (KJV) I was frustrated waiting to find out what was wrong but never afraid because I had turned it over to God. We do not have to be controlled by fear but just turn to Jesus and rely and rest in him. He sustains me also with living with my illness so that I still do not have to be afraid. I keep my eyes on Jesus and he gives me strength to get through each day. One of my favorite verses is in Ps 21 and if I remember to do what it says I will be able to face each and every day with out fear.
Ps 121:1-2 “I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help.2 My help cometh from the LORD, which made heaven and earth. (KJV)Leave the fear behind you and trust and rely on Jesus. He loves you and is your strength and help through every thing. Turn to him..