A Fearful Child

Bryan shared a truth on Sunday that really hit home a couple of nights ago. He reminded us, as parents, that the goal as parents is to help our kids see that, when they sin, they have sinned against GOD first and foremost and then us or someone else secondly. If we don't make that our aim, we will have children that grow up more concerned with pleasing man than pleasing God. So, as a result, when man doesn't see, they feel okay about their sin...not even recognizing that they have sinned against the God who always sees!

Our dear daughter Grace is given to fear easily....especially at night. She is not a fan of the window being open as an intruder might sneak in and she loves the bedroom door being wide open so she can "watch" and hear where we are and what we might be doing as she drifts off to sleep. Well, two nights ago, she got a double whammy...it was really hot in the girls room so we needed to open the window for a while and, at 9:30 at night, the girls were still awake because the light was shining in their room and the laughter was a bit loud with my grandparents here...so we shut their door.

The tears immediately started and quickly turned to sobs. My first thought was...this is ridiculous and irritating...she just needs to deal with this, get over it and stop crying...she is keeping her sister up and disrupting our card game. Praise God for the Holy Spirit who reminded me that it is ultimately not about me or Faith's need for sleep but that God be glorified. I was able to talk to Grace about the fact that, through her tears and fear she was actually saying to God that she didn't trust Him... that she didn't believe that He is truly in control...that He is her helper and defender and NOTHING can happen to her unless the Lord says so! She was not experiencing the peace that passes understanding because she was not resting in and fixing her eyes on the Lord. What she actually needed to do was not just "stop crying" but repent, put off her fear and renew her mind with God's Word and the truths of who He is...I encouraged her to sing some "Seeds" songs till she fell asleep.

Deep truths for a 7 year old? Maybe over the top you might be thinking? NO WAY! If my precious little girl doesn't learn to fight against her fear now, it's only going to get harder to take her thoughts captive! We have the beautiful and awesome responsibility of pointing our kids to Christ NOW...and we dare not miss an opportunity to do so...sandwiched in by lots of hugs too, of course!:)