In the language of our ancestors there was a word, affray, which meant to “startle or frighten”. The present tense of this verb is not used anymore, but the past tense has come to be our word afraid.
I see alot of fear in communication training… no surprise there. Although different surveys may have varying results a common top ranking fear is the fear of public speaking.
To many of us this fear isn’t worth overcoming but how about overcoming fear for sleep? This past evening our 10 year old daughter trekked down to our bedroom in a panic over a bad dream that involved the whole house being flooded and everyone drowning.(another high ranking fear!).. Her father prayed with her and reminded her of Scripture she was memorizing that at least gave her enough confidence to go back up to her room. The peace didn’t last long. I could hear voices upstairs that sounded rather animated so I got out of bed to investigate. This daughter was enlisting her sisters to tell her stories to keep her mind off of her bad dream at 4am. So I did what was required. I got in bed with her. We talked alittle bit and she went back to sleep.
Overcoming our fears takes more than just a few easy steps but let me encourage you with the following:
-Jesus certainly knows and understands our fear as he led and loved His disciples. They feared in Matthew 17:1-18 when on the mountain His appearance changed. They feared when they saw Jesus walking on water (Matt 14:22-27) but Jesus tells us that “It is I; be not afraid”.
-Mentally reminding ourselves of His Love and envisioning his Presence, His Protection, and His Power helps us over our fears.
-No one else walks through it with us like Jesus but having someone in the flesh sure helps. I remember one of my children telling me they couldn’t feel the arms of Jesus like they could mine… Get in the boat with them (or bed as may be the case). Be involved enough in the lives of others that you are willing to be the hands and feet of Jesus to them in the midst of their fears. I hope that along with Jesus you have a friend that would be that help to you.
Sleeping or speaking it is worth overcoming your fears. As He tells us, “It is I; be not afraid.”