The father of my children died when they were three and four. A brain tumor took his life from us. In the days leading to his death and as we lived the first hours and weeks without him, I worried most that my boys would question God's love for them as they grew.
So I purposed to point out the many ways God provided, comforted, and took care of us as months turned to years and they navigated life with this single mom. And since scripture is full of references to God being the father to the fatherless, I parented with the awareness that God parented with me.
But after I remarried and boys grew to teens and then left for college, fear haunted me. A fear that during the years mitochondrial disease and blended family stress spun my spiritual compass, I hadn't been able to finish the job.
Did they know after years of watching me succumb to family strife dulled by TV crime shows that God was with us, for us, still the father who brought miracle one and two (aka: my boys) into my life?
In the last year alone, I could easily list ten ways God has purposefully restored my heart. Yet I realized last week I still worried about my boys. A fog of fear clouded my perspective about who they are and who God is in them.
But after attending two wedding showers for my youngest and watching my oldest perform in the UGA Vocal Quartet performance last week, I came home convicted that I'd forgotten who their father was. I'd forgotten I wasn't parenting alone.
And I wondered how many other ways I allow fear to cloud my perspective; to rule how I govern my time, my thoughts, my actions. Probably more than I know.
But I'm working on it again. Because there's something much bigger than me and my day to day fears going on down here. There's a story of redemption, hope, and love working it's way into our lives every day if we'll look for it.
Do you fight fear? Are you willing to surrender fear for joy? The exchange has been offered.
There's something more.
"Be strong and of good courage, do not fear nor be afraid of them; for the LORD your God, He is the One who goes with you. He will not leave you nor forsake you." (Deut. 31: 6)
For more scriptures on overcoming fear, check out: www.christianity.about.com
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