Not Afraid Anymore

Our youngest is deathly afraid of fire ants... for good cause. She got in her first bed when she was still in diapers while playing at the park. Oh it was terrifying for me and her. There is nothing like being covered with what seems like thousands of little flesh eating creatures that you can't get off of you fast enough...

Yesterday this same child got into a bed of fire ants again. Her Aunt got to her before I did and tried to immediately strip her down but she would have no part of being stripped in the yard. So they ran to the bathroom, where I caught up to find out what in the world was going on...

Oh me ants in the pants, in the socks, in the shirt...

Now stripped down.
Panic over.
And all ants dead... I wrapped her up in my sweater and handed her to her Daddy while we got all the dead ants out of the floor.

Then I took her upstairs to calm her and look her over really good and get her back dressed. While upstairs the tears begin to fall again and she cries, "Why did this have to happen on Thanksgiving!" 

(Ohhh me, can you say mom with broke heart)

Well today we discovered a huge fire ant bed in our yard and she would have nothing but Daddy getting out there and putting some poison on them things, like now. So due to her recent traumatic experience Daddy complied and went out to poison the ants.

Tonight we are cleaning her room and she pulls out a Highlights magazine that just so happens to have an article in it about fire ants. She says, "I'm going to go read this and learn about them fire ants"

About half an hour later she comes running up to me, "Momma! Momma! I'm not afraid of fire ants anymore! They eat wasps!"

So how did this article on fire ants relieve her of her fear?

I believe because of two reasons:
1) Knowledge
2) Purpose

Through reading the article she learned more about the ant. The more she understood about who and what this ant was, her fears lessened.

My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.

Hosea 4:6

For this reason also,

since the day we heard of it,

we have not ceased to pray for you

and to ask that you may be filled

with the knowledge of His will

 in all spiritual wisdom and understanding,

Colossians 1:9

Through her gained knowledge she realized that even this fire ant had a purpose. It had a reason to exist. God had created it and it wasn't as evil as she thought it to be in her fear and ignorance. It had value.

The LORD has made everything for its own purpose,

Proverbs 16:4

So what are you afraid?

What causes fear to rise up within you?

Maybe try studying a little about it and see if, like my Bekah, once you have gained knowledge and discovered a purpose, maybe just maybe, you too can shout, "I'm not afraid anymore!"