Mommy, there is something scary in the closet

Whether you are a toddler, middle schooler, teenager or an adult you know what it means to be afraid.  Fear is one of the consequences of the fall. Thus, the question is not if your children will fear, but what do they fear. If you don’t know what fears your children have, you won’t be able to adequately address the concerns of their hearts. This requires that you have an intimate understanding of the way your child views his world. It doesn’t matter how old your children are. They all have fears that must be understood. 

Psalm 62 says this:

Yes, my soul, find rest in God;

my hope comes from him.

Truly he is my rock and my salvation;

he is my fortress, I will not be shaken.

The Psalmist is telling us that God is the one to trust when our lives are shaken by fears. This fact is unavoidable. This Psalm teaches that it is not enough to offer a rational explanation of why there are no scary creatures in the closet. You must also point to God as the ultimate reason for security. He is the reason for not being afraid. It is the love of God that drives fear away. Learning to love God is the first step to being free from being dominated by fear.

Just because there is nothing scary in closet now, doesn’t mean you can always guarantee that there won’t be at some point in the future, as in 5 minutes from now. This  is how children think. And they are right!  So, while you cannot promise what things will be like 5 minutes from now, you can guarantee that God is always God, he is always good. God will always be our fortress and strength no matter what may or may not be in the closet.  The truth is that we all have the equivalent of the scary closet. 

There are no guarantees things will always go well in this life. But there is always the rock-solid commitment of God to be faithful no matter what the circumstance. It is only in this that we will find rest and comfort.

 

Shepherd Press