Truth for When Fear and Anxiety Take Control: (in)courage
This piece was originally published on 1/18/25 at (in)courage.
Most mornings throughout the school year were the same. Wake my two children, get them dressed and fed, hand off lunch boxes and backpacks, pray the armor of God over them, and get them out the door and headed to the bus stop.
If we ran short on time, I would pray the same prayer once they were on the other side of the door. The armor of God is a marvelous spiritual truth with great imagery. Who wouldn’t want their children to be girded with the belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, shoes of the gospel of peace, the shield of faith, the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit as they head into each new day?
But there was a problem. My confidence in their safety each day was dependent upon the words I prayed. It became a ritual that I believed was necessary in order for God to protect them. If I forgot to pray, I would immediately become fearful that I had put my children in harm’s way.
My fear that a failure to pray might cause my children harm spoke volumes about how I viewed my heavenly Father. Would a good father remove his hand of protection over his children just because a well-meaning mother was too tired or distracted to pray? Looking back now, that seems absurd. But I didn’t always believe in God’s essential goodness.
To finish reading this post, click here and join me at (in)courage.
Sign up here to receive free daily notes from (in)courage, sent right to your inbox!
‘Sometimes healing comes by waving the white flag of surrender when everyone else is telling you to stay in the fight.’
