After spending more than four decades of our lives together, Gale and I have learned how to read each other rather well.  It is easy to claim that everything is just fine, but when we really know each other it can be hard to hide the truth that something is eating away at your insides.  Last Saturday I was mowing the grass when she came and flagged me down; I knew from the look on her face that something was wrong.  Before she even said a word over the roaring of the mower engine, I was trying to prepare myself for some tragedy or bad news.  She then broke the news:  there was a snake on the back porch!  She was stricken with fear as she stepped on the concrete floor to be greeted by the creature, which caused her to take a sudden step in the opposite direction, sustaining a foot injury.

The next day at church Raegan was carrying on with her usual entertaining antics as the sun shined through the front glass doors.  As her mother carried her she noticed a huge image on the back wall.  It was dark and larger than life.  As she looked at it she started to express her fear and reservations about moving any closer to the unidentified creature.  It did not help the little girl’s feelings any when her mother made a growling noise. 

As the week progressed I received a phone call that caused me a bit of fear:  one of the grandchildren had caused the toilet to stop up and overflow.  My wife’s efforts to plunge it free had been unsuccessful.  That is no reason for undue fear, but with all the activity that goes on at our house it made me wonder what had been flushed down without us knowing it.  Raegan likes to throw things in the trash can, so I am sure she would take advantage of the opportunity to put most anything in the toilet if she got a chance. 

What should we do in moments of fear?  Some fears are real, some are only imagined, but God wants us to trust Him with them all and allow Him to provide us with peace no matter what the circumstances. 

The Bible records the events of King Hezekiah in the Old Testament; one of the things that the Jewish king faced was a powerful threat from an enemy nation.  Even though Hezekiah was a God fearing king, he was most certainly stricken with fear at the threats that were made.  He was well aware that he could not overcome his enemy with the resources that he had available, but he was confident that he could bring his needs to God and trust Him to take care of them.  When he received the threatening letter he put his faith into action:  “Hezekiah received the letter from the messengers and read it.  Then he went up to the temple of the Lord and spread it out before the Lord” (2 Kings 19:14, New International Version).  As a result, God heard his prayer and intervened in a miraculous way that resulted in the death of those that were seeking to do harm to God’s people.  Calling out to God like Hezekiah did is a good place to begin dealing with our moments of fear.

Gale was much more at ease when I went out back to take care of the snake problem, and her foot got better after a couple of days.  When I told Raegan to wave at the dark creature on the wall, her fears were lifted when it waved back and she realized she did not need to be afraid of her own shadow.  And the toilet was a simple fix when I got home to attend to it. 

Yes, some fears are real, some are only imagined, and God is concerned about everything that concerns us.  We can trust Him to help us with the biggest and smallest cares of life.