A Soft Place

I just realized that I am, in fact, an adult. I don't like being labeled as an adult. When I was 15 I longed to be an adult. At 35, not so much. I remember when my parents were 35, I thought they were old (no offense, mom and dad). I remember thinking how terrible it would be to be 35 and my life be over. Being an adult means you have lots of responsibilities and people depend on you (that is a scary thought -people depend on me? - yikes!). I had a moment recently when I realized just how much my kids depend on me. My husband and I are their "safe place". Someone can hurt their feelings and they come to me and they are safe and everything is okay. They can get hurt and mommy's love and attention will make them feel better. We are a soft place to fall for our children.

I have noticed that my oldest son tends to worry about things more than he used to. He worries that people may not like him or that he didn't win first place at field day. Small worries in comparison to what many people face, but they are big in his life. I used to worry. A lot. I used to worry about everything. Little things, big things, anything. I used to worry if I didn't have anything to worry about. "How can a Christian worry so much?", you ask. The answer is pretty simple - lack of trust. I didn't see the big picture. I didn't refer to the back of the Book to see how it ends. I didn't allow God to be God and do what only He can do.

One of the biggest tools satan uses against us is worry. Why is worry one of satan's favorite weapons? Because worry is born out of fear, and when we fear there is lack of trust, and when there is lack of trust there is lack of belief, and when there is lack of belief there is lack of relationship, and when there is lack of relationship there is lack of worship, and when there is lack of worship God is not glorified - satan is. (Attn English Teachers: How's that for a run-on sentence?) The devil loves it when God's people are not worshipping Him. When we aren't worshipping God, then we are in fact, worshipping something/someone else (ourselves, our stuff, this world maybe?). That, my friends, is called idolatry. The devil loves for us to buy into his idea that God is not big enough, not able to take care of all our problems and concerns, because it taints our witness and hinders our worship.

When we live in constant worry, others sense the spirit of fear in our lives. A life filled with worry and fear is life lived walking in the flesh. What better way to keep people from Christ than to let them see you (me), a Christian, paralyzed by worry and fear? After all, satan's goal is to keep unbelievers from believing and to make the witness of the believer completely ineffective. I cannot think of a better way to ruin your witness than to constantly give in to a spirit of fear. The two of you who are left reading this are probably thinking, "I have heard this all before, this is not news to me." And you are right, you have heard it before, but have you ever really taken it to heart? Can you say that you have given up your habitual worry and fear? Sometimes we need to hear something over and over before it really sinks in. Sometimes a fresh word brings about change, but other times we 'get it' when we hear it for the hundredth time.

Romans 8:15 says, "For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship. And by him we cry, "Abba, Father." As you know, Abba means 'Daddy'. So, every time we feel that fear/worry creep in, we need to have a heart to heart talk with our "Daddy" so that He can remind us that we are not a slave to fear, He is in control, and He is our "Daddy" who loves us. We need to bring our rejection, fear, and bruised hearts to Him so He can put His arms around us and be our 'safe place'. We need to remember that, like our children, a soft place to fall and His name is Abba, Daddy.