Fun fact: I’m terrified of scary movies. I’ve learned as my walk grew with Christ how to attack that fear head on. However, as a child, I struggled.
I’ve written on fear before. How the spirit of fear comes up and how to attack it in our lives. Today I want to gear my writing to our kids. The generations that are coming after us. The bigger picture.
Our oldest daughter has shown signs of being fearful like most children around her age. She woke up in the middle of the night last night terrified of an image she saw for a split second. Guard your kids hearts y’all. Thats for another post though. ha!
She woke up and que sleepy parenting at 3 am. Which if you’re a parent, you know its hard. Sleepiness and frustration can easily kick in especially when you’re up all the time with an infant as well.
We went in and prayed over her then her daddy snuggled her back to sleep.
After spending time reflecting on it this morning I looked back and thought how easy it is to write off the fears of a child. The over exaggerated fears of images, scary stories, the sidewalk vents, bugs, the list goes on and on. At times, in the past, we’ve gotten frustrated in the moment and written them off. Completely missing the opportunity on teaching her how to handle worldly fear. I look at my life experiences and how much fear has controlled me or numbed me in the face of adversity. It’s not a fun look back.
It very much controlled my actions in my late teens and early twenties. It was not until I fell completely in love with Jesus that I began to truly understand how to defeat the paralyzing fears that plagued me. Now of course my fears were different than the shadow monsters I feared as a kid. They were more like the fear of man, fear of failure, fear of emotional hurt, the list goes on.
As parents we have a beautiful opportunity to help guide the generations after us. Guide them on handling and overcoming their fears well before they face the fears that will very much drive every decision they make.
What if we equipped our kids at the young ages to truly overcome fears? Not by throwing them to the wolves and seeing how they fend for themselves. But walking them through a prayerful life and giving those fears to our Father. What if we brought them to word and equipped them with truth? What if we snuggled them and were the hands and feet of Jesus in extremely fearful times? What if we let them cry on our shoulder and have those fears for a bit? That way they know what its like, step by step, to walk through your fear.
Maybe if we did this, they’d be better equipped as young adults when the fear of being left out comes in and wants to control them. Maybe they’d feel safe enough to lay their fears at the feet of their Father and let Him guide them. Just maybe they’d continue to feel safe with us, as their parents, until they felt strong enough to go to Jesus themselves.
I whole heartedly believe we’d see a generation with a divine ability to face fears unlike any generation thats gone before. Giving our kids what they need in the face of fear is not coddling, it’s parenting the generations. It’s equipping them to face things they do not understand as they go through their adult years. It’s parenting the generations after them to do the same.
Could we stand in agreement that it’s time for fear of this world to have a permanent seat? That it no longer has a presence in our hearts, our children hearts, and the generations that follow?
The next time our kiddos come to us fearful of things of this world, hysterically crying, let us scoop them up, lead them in prayer, and dive into truth with them. Let’s teach them how to overcome fear.
“I prayed to the Lord and he answered me. He freed me from all my fears.” Psalms 34:4
“Don’t be afraid for I am with you. Don’t be discouraged, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you. I will uphold you with my righteous hand.” Isaiah 41:10
“Fear of the Lord is the foundation of wisdom. Knowledge of the Holy One results in good judgement.” Proverbs 9:10
” For God did not give us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline.” 2 Timothy 1:7
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