A few weeks ago I tried something new. I headed up to our guest room with my laptop. I began writing there, free from distractions. The kids were asleep and the quiet was allowing the words inside me to have a voice. An hour or so later, Rob came up to bed. He stopped in to see how the writing was going. He laughed really loudly (because I am so funny). A split second later Samuel came running out of his bedroom, right by us and where the light that was on in the guest room. As fast as he could straight into our room at the other end of the hall.
Rob got up and followed him there. After he was calmed and comforted, I tucked him back in. As he fell right back asleep he mumbled “Mama what were you doing in that room?”
He was scared. Something unfamiliar in the middle of the night coming from a place it shouldn’t be. And what did he do? He ran straight for safety. Straight for where he knew he would be protected. He didn’t go investigate the sound or take time to ponder what it might be. He ran. Straight to his parents arms.
That seems to be the point at which we find ourselves in this series. We have talked about fear being the anticipation of evil. And of its counterpart, to not fear is the anticipation of good. We’ve looked at fear in everyday life and written a letter to fear. Today we turn our eyes from examining fear towards the only place that can do something with the fears that arise. Our Father’s arms. When fears come, we run to the safety of his arms and we find his whisper drowns out the shouts of fear.
You may have heard of this metaphor: Federal agents don’t learn to spot counterfeit money by studying the counterfeits. They study the real thing. They master knowing the genuine currency so that when a fake comes they recognize it as not being true. That is true with knowing God. When we spend our time studying Him, his word, his voice, his truths and purposes, then we can more easily spot all that comes along that tries to take his place in our life. The more we know and rely on him, the less room there becomes for fear to have a viable voice of direction for our life.
We will spend the next two weeks looking at various practices that help us to know God more deeply. From prayer and worship to study and scripture meditation, each day we will engage in some soul training exercises that get us ready to run straight to his arms when fear whispers in the middle of the night.
I am participating in Write 31 Days. Click right here to see all the amazing topics! I am writing on 31 Beauty Full Days. You can read the intro post here. And you can also always click on the button on the sidebar to see all posts in the series.
“When fears come, we run to the safety of his arms and we find his whisper drowns out the shouts of fear.” Beautiful words I can relate to! Thank you for your beautiful words!
XO
Tammy
Melanie,
I love this post. Writing my posts about my journey as a caregiver has stirred up fears that I had not truly faced before about that season in our lives. I am running into my Abba’s arms a lot lately. I know when I wrote The Power of Hope in Mourning I opened up areas of grieving that I had thought had been dealt with long ago. The same is happening as I find a voice to share my caregiving journey. You encouraged me today. And for that I thank you.
Karen
“… underneath are the everlasting arms.”
We will run into His everlasting arms. 🙂
God’s whisper drowns out fear’s shouts … beautiful! Knowing God more deeply! ooooh … yummy!
Some how I didn’t connect with that line “God’s (his) whisper drowns out fear’s of shouts.” when I read through it the first time. Thanks for bringing attention to that.
What a beautiful example your son gives! I long for my first instinct to be to run into our Father’s arms where we will always be safe. Thanks so much for this encouragement, Melanie.
There is a song by Ron Hamilton titled “My Father Answers My Prayer” which has been on my heart the last few days. One line in the chorus goes, “I run to His arms like a little child,” and then when I came from the FB page to read your post, it all just fit together! What a comforting truth that whatever the issue is, we can run to our loving Father for whatever we need.
Knowing where to run….beautiful. Too many times we’ve been told to face it head on. What if God’s plan if for us to run to Him and allow Him to face it for us. Love this! Thank you!