As parents, we have a desire to protect and care for our children that seems to come with the job description. But sometimes that caring can turn to clinging. A crisis occurs. Your child is hospitalized. The TV news flashes a photo of a kidnapped child and you become preoccupied with what might happen.
You don’t trust anyone to babysit. Or as a parent of an adolescent, you worry about your teen getting in with the wild crowd. When these kinds of fears plague you, here are some ways to move from fear to faith:
Release Your Children Into God’s Loving Hands
Praying the prayer of release and entrusting your kids to God, is rarely easy. In fact, I think “letting go” is perhaps the hardest work of parenthood!
However it occurs, releasing our children to God opens a door for the Lord’s power and presence to come into our children’s life and the situation, and in the process we begin to be freed from our fears.
As Karen Mains once said, “It’s important for parents to walk to this spiritual altar, to offer their children back to the Lord. For many of us, this begins when they are infants…in a dedicatory service…or sometimes on that first day of school watching them walk away from home, looking so small, so vulnerable before the enormous destructive forces that range the world.
We suddenly realize we are not all-powerful but are dependent upon supernatural intervention to protect our children from oncoming cars, from cruelty on the playground, from harsh teachers. At each point of our children’s growth, they leave us by degrees, and we must learn to give them again into God’s hands.”
Remember God’s Faithfulness
One way to move toward the goal of releasing your fears and your kids to God is to reflect on how faithful He’s been in your lives in the past. How has He cared for you and your family or protected your children?
When fear and worry start to grip you, jot down all God’s past goodness in their lives. Doing this will remind you who your children are, who God is, and what He’s done. He’s the One who created them and promises He’ll work everything in their lives into a pattern for good.
Focus On The Truth Instead Of Your “What If’s”
Pick one verse each week to make into a “Peace Packet” (and carry in a tiny zip-lock bag) that specifically applies to your children or your concerns about them.
God’s promises remind you how much He cares for you and your children. They help you remember that the One who created our children loves them more than we ever could and that they are secure in His loving, strong hands.
His Word gives you promise after promise and countless Scriptural prayers for you to pray for your kids (consider these great verses: Isaiah 54:13, 1 Samuel 1:27-28, Psalm 94:19, Eph. 1:17-18).
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Known for her warmth, authenticity, and love for people, Cheri Fuller is a gifted, inspiring communicator who speaks nationally and internationally. From the east coast to the west coast and as far away as South Africa, Brazil, Switzerland, and Singapore, Cheri presents encouraging programs that impact people. Through her engaging storytelling style and practical wisdom, audiences leave inspired and challenged to face life's struggles with hope and purpose. She keynotes at women's retreats and conferences, writers' conferences, Christmas events, and national parenting seminars.
Cheri is an award-winning author of forty two books including her newest, Mother-Daughter Duet and The One Year Women's Friendship Devotional.
A former Oklahoma Mother of the Year, Cheri has been a frequent media guest on Focus on the Family, Family Life Today, NBC Radio News, Moody Broadcasting, and other national radio and TV programs. Her articles have appeared in Family Circle, ParentLife, Guideposts, Focus on the Family, Today's Christian Woman, Better Homes & Gardens Faith & Spirit, and other publications.
Cheri's passion is encouraging women and inspiring and equipping people of all ages to connect with God in their busy life and impact their world through prayer, as they live life to the fullest, focus on what really matters, and build loving connections with family and friends no matter what their circumstances.