When you are shaking in your boots!
Fear might grip your heart several times a week, especially if you drive a bike in downtown Toronto! That is why I drive a car or take the transit. Even then, there can be some alarming circumstances! I am working on getting the courage together to ride my bike though!
When I was cliff climbing, going up the side of a huge cliff, I was not frightened - it just made me mad. The rocks to grab on to seemed consistently out of reach. Where my foot was supposed to go was by my ear!! I did make it up to the top. The scary part was repelling down. That first step off the side of the cliff is jammed in my head for all time. That is one kind of fear.
Then there is the kind that keeps your stomach is a knot. When someone you love is sick, or mad at you and you can't easily resolve it. Or when you have said more then you should and now it haunts you. What do you do? I sure try to make right what I can, but I can't always. I can't heal people. For me, when my daughter was sick, that tops the list for things that put my stomach in a knot. Watching your kid suffer and not being able to make the sickness go away is awful. I did not know if she would live or not. She was wasting away. I am happy to say, she did make it and is going great!
In the middle of the nightmare you face, what do you do? How do you handle the knot in your stomach? I was reading today and found this verse. It brings peace to my heart. Perhaps it will for you even if what is causing your knot is totally different than myself or even what makes your friends fearful.
God says " Do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God". I will strengthen and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand." Isaiah 41:10.
Peace to you today!