“Stay where I can see you!” I yelled and watched as their little legs ran as fast as they could.
We were at the zoo and my worst-case scenario brain switched on. Gone were the days where they would be glued to my hip. Secretly I kind of wished they were still scared of everything. Now I was the one who was scared. It seemed like their fear transferred to me. Because after something bad happens to your child, you NEVER want to let them out of your sight.
How do I let go of this fear? No one talks about THAT at the baby shower.
I thought if we move to a “safe” community with good schools, take them to church, pray with them, avoid certain things (you know, wrap them in bubble wrap) nothing bad will ever happen. Wrong! We live in a broken world, and no amount of control can stop bad things from happening.
I remember the exact day when I realized this. All my preparing, (controlling) couldn’t stop something happening to my child. In that moment, with tears in my eyes, I remember saying to God, “Why didn’t you stop this? I did everything to prevent this.”
I was reading through the bible at the time and remembered the book of Job. Job went through many trials, lost everything, AND still trusted the Lord. His faith never wavered. Flipping through these pages this verse stood out to me:
Then the LORD answered Job out of the storm. Job 38:1
In the Bible when we see the word Lord that is God’s personal name, so he is talking to Job in a personal way. If you keep reading, God talks to Job about how he is all knowing.
Have you ever given orders to the morning or shown the dawn it’s place. Job 38:12
He even prophesies Jesus being born in the manger: Will the wild ox consent to serve you? Will he stay by your manger at night? Job 39:9
The next few chapters are flooded with demonstrations of God’s infinite knowledge. GOD KNOWS EVERYTHING. How could we ever doubt his plans for our life? He knows how many hairs are on our head, how many stars are in the sky.
I felt God saying “Why are you holding all this fear and control, when I am right here, I know how it ends. I work ALL things for good.”
God even says, “Fear Not” 365 times in the Bible. He knew we would struggle and wants to take it from us.
So, I SLOWLY unwrap the bubble that’s so tightly around my children, giving God room to move in their life. It’s a process, but I have learned by trusting God’s perfect plan, the fear slowly exits, and I can sleep a little easier and breathe a little better in the moments my kids aren’t by my side.
If you struggle with this like I do- hold this thought close to your heart:
The amount we love our kids, God loves them 10x’s that! God is in control – we can be thankful for that!
NEVER STOP PRAYING WITH & FOR YOUR KIDS!
