Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest. Joshua 1:9 (KJV)
My daughter was afraid of the dark. It’s a common complaint of small children — fear of the dark. Parenting books often describe this fear as one of the many phases of childhood and my own daughter was no exception to this phase.
The only way we got past this was by my going with her into dark places. I used to tell her that there was nothing in the dark that wasn’t there when the light was turned on. Occasionally that helped, but most of the time she simply demanded we turn the light on.
With much patience and perseverance, we worked our way through that fear and beyond.
Often, lingering fears from childhood transfer into adulthood. Fear of failure, rejection, fear of the unknown, and financial worries all have an influence on our day-to-day lives. We could say, too, that we are all still afraid of the dark. We fear what we cannot see. We fear the unknown and its outcome. Though as adults we have outgrown the need to have our parents hold our hands when facing the darkness, it is rare to find a person that desires to face the fears of this world completely alone.
The Psalmist David confessed his fear when he said, Whenever I am afraid, I will trust in You. Even though David was a man after God’s own heart, he must have had some of the same fears that we have today.
Surely, the God that was with David thousands of years ago has not changed. He is with us today, wherever we go, and He will not leave us to face our fears alone. Put your fears in His worthy hands and let Him guide you through.
Bea Edwards enjoys concentrating on writing for children of all ages and has penned short stories for the recent series of books entitled God Makes Lemonade, as well as numerous articles for local papers. She has written for and won multiple honors with Faithwriters, an online writing site for Christian writers, as well as being selected to publish in their yearly book, Best of the Best, Chosen Short Works. She has done undergraduate studies at Trevecca University in Nashville, Tennessee. She is honored to call the beautiful mountains of Western North Carolina home, where she lives with her best friend, a four-year-old pit bull named Sophie. She has one grown daughter who is forever, “the apple of her eye.”
Read Bea’s devotions.
