We pulled into the driveway after a day full of fun. As my three-year-old hopped out of the car, she froze in fear. “Momma, it’s pooky out here.” Her little hand reached up and tightly grasped my hand. I smiled and whispered, “It’s okay. Don’t fear,” as we walked to the house under a moonless sky.
Fear. It can stop us in our tracks. Even Peter, one of Jesus’s disciples, let fear stop him. He was walking on water, but when he took his eyes off Jesus, he began to sink. Peter looked around him and felt the wind. In that moment, he began to sink. In a matter of seconds, his thoughts went from focusing on Jesus to freezing in fear.
When we focus on fear, we make it bigger than our God. We cannot let our thoughts get tangled up in the what-ifs of every situation we face. God doesn’t want us to live in fear (Matthew 14:30-31). Instead, He wants us to trust Him. He wants us to put our hands in His and walk with Him. The hurricane-force winds of life may blow around us, but we can call out to God, knowing He will hold our hand and guide us through the storm.
If fear has you paralyzed, take the fearful thoughts captive and release them to the Lord. Write a prayer to God that expresses the fears you have about your situation. Ask Him to remove the fear and give you His peace. You can take it a step further by reading your prayer out loud. The words we speak are powerful.
Kimberlea is a writer.