Overview:
A young boy's fear of entering his own kitchen at his grandparents' house highlights the power of fears in our lives. The article explores how fears can control us and stop us from achieving our goals, but also reminds us that God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and love. It encourages us to let our faith in God overcome our fears and to take action despite them. The article is written by Shewanda Riley, an author who specializes in faith and relationships.
Even though it happened over 10 years ago, I remember clearly how confused I was when I heard my then four-year-old great-nephew Hosea say emphatically, “I’m scared!” He was visiting my parents’ house at Christmas time and had fearlessly jumped on and off beds/sofa cushions nearly every day. Yet, he was afraid of walking into the well-lit kitchen that was barely 10 feet away. When I asked him to repeat himself, he was silent. After a few seconds, my mama repeated what he said and whispered, “He’s afraid of going into the kitchen.”
When my mama asked him again to go into the kitchen and throw the trash away, he not only said, “I’m scared,” a little louder, but he also stopped moving. For a few minutes, myself, his mama, and my mama tried to convince him that no one was in the kitchen and nothing would happen to him.
He looked at all of us and said more emphatically, “I’m scared!” Finally, I told him that I’d take him into the kitchen. He grabbed my hand, held it very tightly, and we began walking towards the kitchen. As we walked, I reassured him that there was no one in the kitchen and all the lights were on. When we entered the kitchen, he dropped my hand, darted towards the trash can, dropped the trash in, and sprinted back towards the den. This all happened in a matter of seconds…he looked like a little black flash running past me! By the time I made it back to the den, he was back to jumping off the couch cushions.
It puzzled me how he was afraid of some unknown “thing” in the kitchen but was not afraid of the very real spankings that came when he jumped off the couch. His actions reminded me so much of how we deal with fears. We allow our fears to control us and sometimes stop us from going where God wants us to be. In many ways, we are the sum of our fears, whether the fears are rejection, abandonment, or not being valued. Many right now are consumed by fears like losing their jobs or their loved ones being deported. Despite these challenges to our faith, those of us who are people of faith know that during uncertain times, relying on our faith in God and not our fears is vital.
God allows healthy fear to keep us from making foolish decisions like jumping out of an airplane without a parachute. However, he doesn’t want us paralyzed by our fears. 2 Timothy 1:7 reminds us that “God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.” With so much in our world being influenced by fear, I think it’s time we stopped letting our actions be the result of the sum of our fears and instead let our actions become the sum of our faith in God. In next week’s column, we take a look at how to handle it when fears combine.
Shewanda Riley is a Fort Worth, Texas-based author of “Love Hangover: Moving From Pain to Purpose After a Relationship Ends” and “Writing to the Beat of God’s Heart: A Book of Prayers for Writers.”Email her at preservedbypurpose@gmail.com or follow her on Twitter @shewanda.