DAY 9

“Little Much Afraid”

When I was a little girl and even when I was older, I was often afraid. I was afraid people wouldn’t like me, I was afraid of the dark, I was afraid my mom or dad would get sick, I was afraid of being alone. Yeah, there was a lot of “stuff” I was afraid of.  Once I read a book about someone who was called “Little Much Afraid.” That was me.  How about you?

Then when I was older, and I was married, we used to travel from place to place and preach and sing all across Canada. You would think that I had gotten over this being afraid by then; after all I was in “ministry” and married. But no; I was less afraid of some things but still just as afraid of others and maybe had found some new things to be afraid of as well.

One night we played in a small town somewhere in western Canada.  After the meeting the people said,” We have arranged for you to stay at a beautiful house that is just being built in the middle of the woods, so you can be all by yourself and rest.”  This sounded sort of nice … but ALL by yourself, in the WOODS...NO telephone, and when we got there I found out that there was NO LOCK on the doors!   Actually there weren’t even windows in some rooms yet…. BUGS could get in!

My husband thought this was a lovely quaint place and was thrilled.  All I could see was no locks, open window, no phone, woods… were there wolves? By the time I had been there 10 minutes I was so upset inside I started to cry. (pretty big wuss hey). Well I got ready for bed, looking over my shoulder and putting my suitcase against the door…so the wolves couldn’t get in… or robbers, and climbed into bed. I opened my bible and what should I happen to read?

In peace I will both lie down and sleep for You alone, O Lord makes me dwell in safety!  Psalm 4: 8

This just jumped out at me, and I thought, “In Peace, you’ve GOT to be kidding!”

Then the Lord spoke so clearly to me, “You know you can lie down and sleep and give me all your worries, and rest, or lie awake all night worrying, its up to you, because I’m going to take care of you anyways.” He wasn’t mad at me, but just told me the truth! Worry or sleep.

A light went on in my mind…what was the point of worrying if God was going to take care of me? So then and there I said O.K. God You take all those fears, I choose to trust you.

The next morning I woke up, and again opened my Bible, and my eyes came on Ps. 131

O Lord, my heart is not proud, nor my eyes haughty not do I involve myself in great matters or in things too difficult to me. Surely I have composed myself, and quieted my soul, like a weaned child rests against his mother.

Have you ever seen a little baby nursing, and when it is finished it just snuggles up to his mom, contented and at peace. No worries, just resting and trusting. That is the picture that verse paints. Some one else shared this:  

My wife and I went to our daughter’s home Sunday afternoon for a get together and it was wild with all the little kids running around. Little Derrick finally had it and was upset. I swung him up and headed off to the living room carrying a squirming, crying little boy. I sat on the couch with Derrick on my lap, whispering for him to be quiet; be still. He immediately became quiet and put his head on my chest, under my chin. So, I held him in love; I blessed him for a long time. Wow! When he finally got up, he was completely changed.

That is what Father God’s heart is for each of us. That we come to that place where we rest on Jesus Knee and allow him to do what He wants to do most. Love us. It is not up to us to figure out stuff that is too hard for us to understand. That’s God’s job. It is not up to us to be afraid and worry; He is in charge and is taking care of us. That is what it means that God want to bring us to a place of rest. That is a place where you know deep in your heart that you are loved and are God’s son or daughter. From that place you look at the world a whole different way.

ACTIVITY:

1a) How about you? Do you find it hard to trust? Are you maybe a bit like Little Much Afraid? Listen to what Peter says;

“Let him (Jesus) have all your worries and cares, for he is always thinking about you and watching everything that concerns you.”  1Peter 5:7LB

Take out your journal and write out 1Peter 5:7. Then write down the things that you are having a hard time trusting God with. Read the verse again. Then pray and ask God to open your eyes and heart to that place of rest. The safest place for you to be is in Jesus hands. It is also the best place for you to leave your worries or fears.

b.) Younger kids can draw themselves snuggled on Jesus’ knee in the picture at the end of the post.

2) Ask your mom or dad or grandma or grandpa if they remember this song from Sunday school.  Ask them to tell you a story about a time when they needed to trust Jesus.

Together pray that you will as a family come to a place of resting in Jesus. That is the place we are talking about entering into during the consecration call.

Then sing this song together,

Safe am I
Safe am I
In the hollow of His hand

Sheltered o’er
Sheltered o’er
By His love forever more,
No ill can harm me,
No foe alarm me,
For He keeps both day and night.

Safe am I
Safe am I
In the hollow of His hand

3) Blindfold: Game

Set up an obstacle course. Put children into partners. Have one child be blindfolded but leave the other child's eyes open. Explain that this activity will require having faith/trust in their partner. Your partner has to prove himself/herself trustworthy/faithful by telling the truth. You have to demonstrate faith by obeying what they tell you to do. The “seeing” partner will verbally guide the “blind” partner through the obstacle course. Discuss how this connects to our trust in God. Discuss how obedience is important.  We do not always understand the directions God gives us, but He sees the obstacles we don't see and He can be trusted.

Check out www.kidsofthekingarise.blog.com for another post on rest. Keys of the Kingdom #13

Kids consecration team