Judy Lentz  

Fear of God

Psalm 23:4 “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.”

This Psalm is such a comforting psalm and is repeated so frequently that individuals can often repeat it from memory. Unfortunately, this was not the case for our son years ago.

As a preschooler, our youngest son would get ‘time outs’ for being too rambunctious when playing with his friend, Johnny. One day, he declared to me that he was no longer going to play with this friend. When I asked why, he said, because he gets me into trouble. I encouraged him to talk to his teacher about this situation so she could help him figure out how to be Johnny’s friend but not get into trouble during playtime.

 Nothing more was said for several days. Then one morning as we were driving to preschool, he said, “I talked to God last night and asked him to tell Johnny not to play with me.” I immediately asked “Did you talk to your teacher about Johnny so she can help prevent you from getting into trouble when playing with him?” He quietly answered “No”. I said “Why not? If you can talk to God about Johnny, why can’t you talk to your teacher?” He sat quietly for a minute and then said “Because I am not afraid of God!”

I have often told this story and each time I do, I am reminded of the scripture for today. I wonder how often we talk to God about problems in our lives. Do we remember that this scripture assures us that God will walk us through difficult times in our lives if we just talk to him to let him know we need his help. God’s faithfulness assures us of his continuing presence. He seeks to console us; all we need to do is ask for his support and guidance by praying as instructed by Jesus to his disciples.

Prayer:  Matthew 6: 9-13. “This, then, is how you should pray: Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.” Amen.