A couple weeks ago, before the coronavirus scare immobilized everyone, I was able to hang out with my brother and his three kids. When the kids started getting a little crazy, we encouraged them to go outside to play with our 5-month-old German Shepherd puppies. These two boys are all love and joy and no restraint, as all puppies are. The 4-year-old niece ran outside so fast that I couldn’t even get my slip-on shoes on first. While outside without an adult, one of the puppies jumped to kiss her face and knocked her over. I saw the aftermath: she was laying the grass crying. What she didn’t know I saw was that she didn’t start crying until she saw me at the door. It was only about 2 seconds, but I know she had no intention to cry until she could get attention, something that is very common with children.
I went outside, picked her up, and asked her why she was crying. Through sobs, she said, “I was scared!”
“Of what?” I asked, knowing full well there was nothing to be scared of.
“The puppies scared me!”
Over the next minute or so I talked her through choosing to not be scared of the puppies. After all, we know they aren’t trying to hurt anyone and that they just got super excited to give her kisses and to play with her. She giggled a little at that and then suddenly the tears stopped. This little girl just chose confidence over fear.
And we should all do the same thing right now.
Whether we have to live with social distancing for another week or the rest of the year (God help us all if this is the case!) if, we don’t have to live in fear. Fear is really easy, but we can choose confidence.
You might be saying: It’s not that easy! Everything is scary out there and the reports just seem to be getting worse.
You know what? Some reports are getting worse, but others aren’t, so where are you looking? I can take precautions, be careful, watch the news, and yet not be afraid. Because my confidence doesn’t come from the CDC or the World Health Organization or the government. My confidence comes from the One who created everything, including the people in those organizations. My confidence is not built on a human being’s understanding of the situation, but the faithfulness of the One who knew this was coming before the world existed. My confidence is so much bigger than this world-spread virus.
We all have a choice: put our trust in people (even highly educated people) and live in fear or choose confidence based on the faithfulness of the God of the universe who knows the number of hairs on our head! Plus, I know from experience that God is faithful to His people, even when we are not faithful to Him, so God’s got this!
Moreover, and it may sound small, but I would rather not live in fear. Fear is draining. Fear is overwhelming. Fear robs me of my life. Confidence takes effort, sure, but it actually returns that effort with more strength. Confidence may be a really hard decision and seem overwhelming, but your heart will be comforted. And, without a doubt, confidence in God gives me life. Always and forever.
So choose confidence. You might have to make that choice every minute today and then start again tomorrow. But as you keep choosing confidence, it will become easier because you will become stronger. Go for it! Just try it for the next minute! You’ve got this because God’s got you!
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