Isaiah has been having fearful responses to two things: diaper changes (poop that has caused his butt to have a sore rash) and thunder (extremely loud and frequent). He literally has a fear that grips him; the tears are accompanied with screams and terrified looks. In either case, he would easily choose to find a hole and hide in it.
As a parent, it is hard to work through with him - in the moment. For the diaper changes, I tell him to look at me, to stop crying, to trust me, that it will be over shortly, that he will feel better once he's clean, that the butt paste will make it better - nothing ever works. It is always after the intense moment is over and all my patience has been worn thin, that he bounces right back to his normal self. For the thunder, it is all very much the same (aside from butt paste and needing to hold him down - that's what make that one even harder).
Since these episodes have been occurring, the LORD has been letting me know that it is not much different when it comes to me and Him. Just as I turn to Isaiah and ask him, "Do you trust me?" The LORD is doing the very same thing with me. My answer is always the same as Isaiah's, "Yes." Why, then, does it not make it all better? Why doesn't the pain or fear or doubt just go away, right away?
One thing I can say for sure is that trust is a process. Every time a moment arises to practice trusting, it is as if a building block is being placed on a foundation. Trust is one of the main foundation pieces of life, of love. As we get better at trusting, the easier it is to look at the things that tempt us to be afraid or to doubt, and say, "I know whom I trust."
"When I am afraid, I put my trust in you.
In God, whose word I praise,
in God I trust and am not afraid.
What can mere mortals do to me?"
Psalm 56:3-4
The other thing I can say for sure is that faith is another vital piece to facing down temptations to fear and doubt. Faith and trust run side-by-side, and all the while they have the LORD shouting out these words from their lips: "You can do this! I know you can't see what I see, nor can you imagine life any differently than how it is now, but you just need to believe! Just a little more. Give just a little more. You are almost past it. You are almost through it. Then you will see the beauty I want to show you, but I needed to take you through the valley in order to get to this next place I am leading you. You can do this! I believe in you! I am for you!"
“'But my righteous one will live by faith.
And I take no pleasure in the one who shrinks back.'
But we do not belong to those who shrink back and are destroyed,
but to those who have faith and are saved.
Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.
This is what the ancients were commended for."
Hebrews 10:38-11:2
As you help your children learn to trust and have faith, may God give you the grace to learn the same. May He give you the strength to hold up the shield of faith and secure every other part of your armor today (Ephesians 6).
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