Friday, December 31, 2010
12/28/10 - Rachel's story
The past six weeks or so, our youngest daughter, Rachel, has been having some rather out-of-the-blue fears. She went to bed one night and asked me if it was supposed to rain. I assured her I didn’t think so, tucked her in and didn’t think anything about it. About twenty minutes later, she came into my room crying. I asked her what was wrong and she told me she was afraid it was going to storm and that she was afraid of thunder and lightning. She had her arms tucked in near her body and her little fingers in her mouth like she was trying to hide from something.
Now, in the past, any time there has been a bad storm at night, she has on occasion, come into our room, but it has never been due to fear of the storm. She’s simply come in because she’s wakened from thunder or lightning and couldn’t go back to sleep. There have never been tears, though.
I assured her it wasn’t going to storm – she even asked me to go get online and check the weather. I did and showed her what it said and that it was supposed to be a clear night. When I tucked her into bed I pulled out her Bible and we read about Jesus calming the storm. I told her that Jesus didn’t want her living in fear and that He was always with us and there was nothing to be afraid of.
This series of events went on for a few nights and then finally subsided. However, we then began conversations in the car about being afraid of driving. She’s seven! She has a good 8 years before she is even eligible for a permit. She would ask me about driving and if it was scary. She’d ask me what I would do if it started raining and my windshield wipers didn’t work. She asked if I’d ever been in a car accident. She asked me if it was dangerous to drive in the rain. She asked all kinds of questions that just seemed random to me and they came almost every time we’d get into the car. None of my other two kids had gone through this phase and I was beginning to get concerned. Each time I would assure her that God didn’t want us living in fear, but rather living with trust in Him that He would take care of us. She would agree and move on . . . temporarily.
Then even stranger conversations began happening. She’d tell me her brain was telling her there wasn’t a God even though she knew there was. One night after being tucked into bed, I found her on the couch in her daddy’s lap with tears streaming down her face. I asked Dennis what was wrong and he just looked at me and shook his head – I knew to wait and he’d tell me later.
After he tucked her back in I asked what had happened. She told Dennis that she had said, “God” in her head and not in a good way. In other words, she had taken God’s name in vain in her head. She hadn’t said it, but she thought it and was concerned.
That night I went to bed mad. I realized that my daughter was under attack and by golly the devil better leave her alone or the wrath of Mama was going to seem worse than the wrath of God Himself! As I prayed for my little one, God clearly told me that the next time she brought up any of this – fear, bad thoughts, bad words, etc. that I was to talk to her about accepting Him as Lord and Savior. Rachel has believed in God forever. It’s the only way she’s been raised, so she knows no different, but even that wasn’t enough to stop the doubts and the fears coming to her tender, innocent mind. She need Jesus and she needed Him now!
Two days later as I was working on the computer Rachel approached me and asked me if I remembered the night she was sitting with her daddy on the couch crying. I told her I did. She recalled the events of the evening, the thoughts she’d had and why she had been crying. I told her that we aren’t always in control of the thoughts that go into our brains. The enemy can easily plant thoughts in our heads that are not true –if fact they are lies from the pit of hell. I told Rachel that the devil doesn’t want us to live for Jesus and go to heaven. He wants to hurt us and have us lost forever. I asked her if she knew what it meant to ask Jesus into her heart. She said no –although I’m sure she knew, just maybe not in that terminology. I asked her a few basic questions about whether or not she believed Jesus was born of Mary, died on the cross, and rose three days later. She answered yes to all of them. I asked her if she knew what sin was. She said she didn’t, but I explained that sin is the mistakes we make that go against what God teaches. I asked her if she had ever told a lie. She said yes and I let her know that lying is a sin. I asked her if she had ever said anything mean to another person. She said yes, and I told her that was a sin. I asked her if she had ever disobeyed me or her daddy. She smirked and said yes. So after a few examples of sin, I asked her if that made her a sinner. She said yes. With that simplistic explanation of sin and her belief that Jesus died on the cross to save people from their sin, we then said a simple prayer acknowledging her sin and the need for Jesus. She accepted His gift of salvation that afternoon and the angels in heaven rejoiced along with me and the rest of our family and friends!
I share that story to let you know that we have got to have our spiritual eyes and ears open. Those irrational fears and negative thoughts could easily have taken root in her life, but because God has a master plan in place, He used that awful, ugly fear to change a young girl’s heart and turn it toward Him. The enemy was after her, but what he meant for bad, My God turned around for eternal good. My entire immediate family is headed to heaven one day and that’s a glorious thing!
Now, in the past, any time there has been a bad storm at night, she has on occasion, come into our room, but it has never been due to fear of the storm. She’s simply come in because she’s wakened from thunder or lightning and couldn’t go back to sleep. There have never been tears, though.
I assured her it wasn’t going to storm – she even asked me to go get online and check the weather. I did and showed her what it said and that it was supposed to be a clear night. When I tucked her into bed I pulled out her Bible and we read about Jesus calming the storm. I told her that Jesus didn’t want her living in fear and that He was always with us and there was nothing to be afraid of.
This series of events went on for a few nights and then finally subsided. However, we then began conversations in the car about being afraid of driving. She’s seven! She has a good 8 years before she is even eligible for a permit. She would ask me about driving and if it was scary. She’d ask me what I would do if it started raining and my windshield wipers didn’t work. She asked if I’d ever been in a car accident. She asked me if it was dangerous to drive in the rain. She asked all kinds of questions that just seemed random to me and they came almost every time we’d get into the car. None of my other two kids had gone through this phase and I was beginning to get concerned. Each time I would assure her that God didn’t want us living in fear, but rather living with trust in Him that He would take care of us. She would agree and move on . . . temporarily.
Then even stranger conversations began happening. She’d tell me her brain was telling her there wasn’t a God even though she knew there was. One night after being tucked into bed, I found her on the couch in her daddy’s lap with tears streaming down her face. I asked Dennis what was wrong and he just looked at me and shook his head – I knew to wait and he’d tell me later.
After he tucked her back in I asked what had happened. She told Dennis that she had said, “God” in her head and not in a good way. In other words, she had taken God’s name in vain in her head. She hadn’t said it, but she thought it and was concerned.
That night I went to bed mad. I realized that my daughter was under attack and by golly the devil better leave her alone or the wrath of Mama was going to seem worse than the wrath of God Himself! As I prayed for my little one, God clearly told me that the next time she brought up any of this – fear, bad thoughts, bad words, etc. that I was to talk to her about accepting Him as Lord and Savior. Rachel has believed in God forever. It’s the only way she’s been raised, so she knows no different, but even that wasn’t enough to stop the doubts and the fears coming to her tender, innocent mind. She need Jesus and she needed Him now!
Two days later as I was working on the computer Rachel approached me and asked me if I remembered the night she was sitting with her daddy on the couch crying. I told her I did. She recalled the events of the evening, the thoughts she’d had and why she had been crying. I told her that we aren’t always in control of the thoughts that go into our brains. The enemy can easily plant thoughts in our heads that are not true –if fact they are lies from the pit of hell. I told Rachel that the devil doesn’t want us to live for Jesus and go to heaven. He wants to hurt us and have us lost forever. I asked her if she knew what it meant to ask Jesus into her heart. She said no –although I’m sure she knew, just maybe not in that terminology. I asked her a few basic questions about whether or not she believed Jesus was born of Mary, died on the cross, and rose three days later. She answered yes to all of them. I asked her if she knew what sin was. She said she didn’t, but I explained that sin is the mistakes we make that go against what God teaches. I asked her if she had ever told a lie. She said yes and I let her know that lying is a sin. I asked her if she had ever said anything mean to another person. She said yes, and I told her that was a sin. I asked her if she had ever disobeyed me or her daddy. She smirked and said yes. So after a few examples of sin, I asked her if that made her a sinner. She said yes. With that simplistic explanation of sin and her belief that Jesus died on the cross to save people from their sin, we then said a simple prayer acknowledging her sin and the need for Jesus. She accepted His gift of salvation that afternoon and the angels in heaven rejoiced along with me and the rest of our family and friends!
I share that story to let you know that we have got to have our spiritual eyes and ears open. Those irrational fears and negative thoughts could easily have taken root in her life, but because God has a master plan in place, He used that awful, ugly fear to change a young girl’s heart and turn it toward Him. The enemy was after her, but what he meant for bad, My God turned around for eternal good. My entire immediate family is headed to heaven one day and that’s a glorious thing!
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