My two year-old is afraid of shadows. When he sees a shadow, he shrieks and clings to the nearest adult so tightly. I’ve tried to demystify shadows for him. I’ve wriggled my own hands and created objects with his hands, to help him see that we are the ones that create and control the shadows. His dad has made him step on shadows just to get him to stop being afraid of them. Well, let’s just saying that we’re still working on it.
What gets me every time he demonstrates this fear is that the shadows are not even real. All he sees and fears is something that actually does not exist, something whose appearance is controlled one-hundred percent by him, something that can be dispelled when you turn off the light or change the direction of light.
Have we considered some of the things we are afraid of? It is possible that many of us are afraid of things that are actually not real and don’t even exist. We’re afraid of things that we actually control. We are afraid of things that can change if we view them from another direction.
Fear is a very real emotion. It can incapacitate people and cause them to think or act irrationally. Fear has been known to cause psychological and physiological changes and damages to people. It has robbed people of dreams, possibilities, destinies and miracles. It has robbed people of health, peace, jobs, ministries, businesses, marriages, children, relationships and of life itself.
Please, don’t let fear steal your life from you any longer. Even though your emotion of fear may be real, I want you to give a deep consideration to whatever it is you’re afraid of. It may be something that does not even exist, except in your mind. Some things are not as terrible or real as we imagine them to be. And as you consider, remember the words of your Father:
Do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.
- Isaiah 41:10 (New International Version)
