Lessons from Last Year's Fear Part II

The story continues... (you may need to read the last post first " Lessons from Last Year's Fear")

The ER Dr. admitted her into the hospital over night because she couldn’t walk.  The next morning, she still had difficulty walking to the bathroom, but progressively got better throughout the day.  The pediatric Dr. took blood work and decided to do a heart echocardiogram and EKG due to elevated  white blood count (WBC )and sed rate (rate of inflammation).  Everything checked out fine, praise the Lord!  The Dr. discharged her because clinically she was much better, but he couldn’t explain why she got better so quickly.  He also warned that , "she may not be out of the woods yet".  Even though all the tests showed her heart functioning normally, it did not mean her heart wouldn’t be affected later.  He instructed us to call our pediatrician if there were any changes.  She finally came home around 5:00 p.m.

The snow storm came as expected, making the roads questionable for travel.   A friend offered to take me to see her in the hospital, but we thought she would be home sooner than she did.  I also had two other girls to consider.  So, my battle continued.  Faith or Fear?  Besides the step I shared in the last post (Focus on the Present), I also had to:

 

I.                      Focus on the Proof.

 With my daughter, I had to focus on truth, the facts, not fantasy.  The facts: she had strept throat, taking medication, swollen ankles, rash, not walking, ER, tests, good test results.  Later: feeling better and home.  Fantasy:  internet search.  I had Jadyn dying of leukemia in three weeks.  I continually had to ask, "What are the facts?"

Philippians 4:8  Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. (NIV)

To overcome fear, I also had to:

 II.                  Focus on the Plan.

With my daughter, I had to choose a  plan of action.  I needed freedom from fear, or

my inaction would freeze me with fear.

I took these three actions:

           1) Prayer 
          I prayed and called my family to pray, even at 11:00 p.m.  

Philippians 4:6 says,“Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.”

                             2)  Profess Promises

Philippians 4:7 says, “And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

                      I claimed the promise of peace.  If I would pray with thanksgiving like Philippians 4:6 says, the promise of peace in verse 7 results.  I needed peace to guard my heart and especially my mind.  I experienced the peace beyond what I could understand just as verse 7 promises.   

                                3) Praise

I cranked the music and praised God during the day, sometimes singing at the top of my lungs.  I could not stay fearful when I focused on God, not self.

I'd like to say that is the end of the story.  She came home and we lived happily ever after.  But "happily ever after" stories only happen in fairy tales.  I'll share the rest next time.
 (You may want to sign up by e-mail or join this site, so easy to do.  God Bless!   

What about you?  What action do you need to take with your fears?  Do you need to pray about a situation, instead of fear.  Profess the promise of Philippians 4:6-7 to have peace?  Or praise to place the focus on God?

To continue the story:  Lessons from Last Year's Fear Part III

Lessons from Last Year's Fear

Last February, my middle daughter, seven-years-old, had a sore throat one Friday morning with no fever, so off to school she went.  She felt fine over the weekend.  However, the next week she ran a fever and complained of headaches off and on, but felt fine with medication.  3 a.m. Sunday morning (of course it’s the weekend), I called a triage nurse.  He thought she probably just had a mild case of the flu, even though she had a flu shot, and recommended waiting until Monday morning to see our doctor.  By Sunday evening (Super Bowl Sunday), she had an excruciating earache.  So, off to urgent care we went.  She had a bulging ear drumb (that bursted later that night, ouch!) and was diagnosed with strept throat.  (Never saw that coming!)  She started antibiotics; and we were sure she would be better in no time.

However, On Tuesday, we went to a Oklahoma City Thunder basketball game (Go Thunder!) for Upward basketball night.  By the end of the night, she complained that she couldn’t walk.  When we got home, we noticed her ankles were swollen and a rash on the lower part of her legs.  After a phone call to triage, the nurse said we could wait until the next day to see our doctor, but she was not sure if they would be open because of the predicted record snow storm.  My husband took her to the ER.  The doctors weren’t sure what was wrong.  Now the decision for me, fear? Or faith?  Through this trial, God taught me some steps to take to deal with fear.  

 

I.                    Focus on the Present

  Matthew 6: 27 - 34 says,  "And who of you by being worried can add a single hour to his life ? 28 "And why are you worried about clothing ? Observe how the lilies of the field grow ; they do not toil nor do they spin, 29 yet I say to you that not even Solomon in all his glory clothed himself like one of these. 30 "But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, will He not much more clothe you?  You of little faith ! 31 "Do not worry then, saying, 'What will we eat?' or 'What will we drink?' or 'What will wear for clothing?' 32 "For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things ; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. 33 "But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. 34 "So do not worry about tomorrow ; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

With my daughter, I had to focus on the present, not the future.  The present: my daughter had to go to the ER.   I should not worry about the future: how long she would be there, how we would deal with a child in the hospital for months, or how would this change our lives in the future.  Of course, this was a moment by moment choice.  When Satan tempted me to worry about the future, I had to  remember these verses.

I'll share some more of the story and the other steps next time. 

What fear do you have that you should focus on the present?

To continue the story: Lessons from Last Years Fear Part II

Potholes of Fear

I'm sure you are like me and your first thoughts of the day were about potholes.  OK, maybe not. (Hopefully not).  I can justify my madness, unlike other times.  I spoke about fear, to some wonderful, Jesus following, ladies at a retreat today.  The title of my session was, "Avoiding the Potholes of Fear" to go along with the theme "Life's a Trip."  I pondered on my notes one more time this morning and thoughts began to spill.

I remember driving my first car, a blue 1988 Suzuki Samurai (no a/c because what sixteen-year-old needs a/c in small town Oklahoma where you drive less than one mile to church and school and only three miles to work?  Only God knew that I'd drive that way until I got married at age twenty-five) down backroads in a miserably hot summer (no a/c remember), in smaller rural Oklahoma for my summer college job at a bank.  I don't believe anyone took responsibility for road maintenance.  The roads, heavily traveled by combines, semi-trucks, and local pickups remotely looked like pavement, resembling more of a battle field of potholes, better described as craters.  I thought about how potholes can represent fear, especially unwarranted, "what ifs" fear.

1)  Like potholes, fear causes damage.

Potholes can cause serious damage to your vehicle: changing alignment, bursting tires, scraping who knows what under your car, and can even cause you to wreck.  Fear also changes our "alignment with God".  It changes our focus from Jesus to us and our fears.  It may cause us to veer off the road God wants us to travel.    

2)  Like potholes, fear causes detours.

Potholes get bigger with time, overtaking pavement if not filled.  Eventually (unless in rural Oklahoma), the road temporarily closes for repair, resulting in detours.  People cannot use the road, the purpose for which it was made.  Our fear can grow if not properly assessed and diverted.  Our lives, wrecked by fear, hold a "temporarily closed" sign that God cannot use us as He desires.

3)  Like potholes, fear causes deceleration.
Potholes require us to slow down and concentrate on the potholes, rather than the road.  Fear causes us to slow down in our spiritual growth.  

4)  Like potholes, fear causes us to be desensitized.

After a while, the road of potholes no longer require our full attention.  We drive comfortably on the rugged road, knowing exactly where to swerve and accepting the fact that the maintenance crew may never repair the road.  With fear, we desensitize to its presence in our lives.  We wrongly concede to time-wasting, peaceless fear, believing the lie that fear does not affect us enough to care.  And honestly, may not care to change because we live contently with our fear, unable to imagine life any differently.

God desires us to live in freedom from fear, filling our frightening potholes of fear with faith.  The Bible teaches us how to overcome fear, beginning with personally knowing the Prince of Peace, Jesus Christ.

What do you fear?  Are you tired of it yet?