At our house in recent days, we have been walking through a season of fear with my little man. He is seven. We have many things going on in our world that could cause this, from spring storms here in the Midwest to my hubby being gone for a while. Some things in life are just scary.

I sat down and talked to him about it the other day, asking him what he was afraid of. First, he was afraid of the dark, then it was mummies, then it was skeletons. I think we could have continued, but I stopped him there.

It was time for some honesty.

As much as I would just like to sleep through the night right now, doing whatever it takes to get him to sleep all night in his own room, I had to tell him the truth. I am scared sometimes too. And daddy? That big, bad man who protects us? Yes, he too gets scared.

My little man was shocked. What in the world did we have to fear? Good question. What do we fear? We fear for family members when we cannot be with them and protect them. We fear our skills as a parent may not be up to par. We fear we may not be qualified for the jobs (paid and unpaid) that we take on. We fear the next move because we don’t necessarily know what it has in store. We fear, too. All of us.

I remember just over a year ago when we were PCSing to Kansas. Following my husband along the interstate while he towed our travel trailer, I remember the fear very well. The trailer started to sway and it did not look like my strong husband could hold onto it. I could just picture that trailer taking him right of the interstate and off the edge of the mountain in the middle of winter in West Virginia. I let fear get a hold of me.

My son was doing the same thing. He began to fear what might be instead of being thankful for what is and trusting God for what is to come. But how do we shake that fear?

There is only One who can fight that fear. His name is Jesus. Last night we went back to Him. We read some Scripture including Philippians 4:8, “Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable–if anything is excellent or praiseworthy–think about such things.”

Fighting our fear requires us to change our focus from our present circumstance to our Savior. We have to change our mind. I know first-hand how easy it is for fear to get a grip on my heart. Fighting it in the car a year ago, I wrote down some key verses on post it notes and attached them to my dash. Every time that trailer started to swerve, I started reading them and saying them out loud to myself. I had to consciously change my thoughts.

The little man had to do the same thing last night. We did it through Scripture and a song they are learning for their upcoming musical at the Chapel. (I don’t think the timing for learning the song is an accident) I heard him singing the song to himself in bed later:

“Whatever is true, whatever is just, whatever is lovely, pure and right.
Whatever is holy and lovely, that’s how I’ll live my life
Set my mind on things above. Set my mind on God’s great love.
Whatever is true, just, pure, and right, that’s how I’ll live my life!”

Thought you might want to hear my kids sing it:

When we are faced with fear, which we all will be, I pray we fight back. 2 Timothy 1:7 reminds us, “For God did not give us a spirit of timidity (or fear), but a spirit of power, of love, and of self-discipline.” May we take that spirit and fight. [fusion_builder_container hundred_percent=”yes” overflow=”visible”][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type=”1_1″ background_position=”left top” background_color=”” border_size=”” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” spacing=”yes” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” padding=”” margin_top=”0px” margin_bottom=”0px” class=”” id=”” animation_type=”” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_direction=”left” hide_on_mobile=”no” center_content=”no” min_height=”none”][tweetthis]Living in fear, even for a short time, is not what God intended. [/tweetthis]We serve a God bigger than that.

So whether you are facing a deployment, separation from loved ones you want to help, older children who are making decisions you know are not good, jobs you don’t feel qualified for, changes that are coming of which you have no control, or parenting that can be way more than we bargained for, I pray you stand against such things through the truth of Scripture. Taking captive those things which are not of God. Changing our minds to think on things that are true, noble, right, pure, and admirable. May we keep our eyes on Jesus, and kick fear to the curb.

[/fusion_builder_column][fusion_builder_column type=”1_1″ background_position=”left top” background_color=”” border_size=”” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” spacing=”yes” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” padding=”” margin_top=”0px” margin_bottom=”0px” class=”” id=”” animation_type=”” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_direction=”left” hide_on_mobile=”no” center_content=”no” min_height=”none”][tweetthis]God gave us a spirit of power, of love, and of self-discipline. Let’s use it. [/tweetthis]God gave us a spirit of power, of love, and of self-discipline. Let’s use it.

My little man won that battle last night, but we will probably fight it again another day. My prayer, though, is that I give him the tools so as he gets older he can fight that battle for himself. I will forever love to hear him sing, “Whatever is true, just, pure, and right, that’s how I’ll live my life!”

What causes you to fear? How do you fight that battle? How do you teach others to fight it?

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