My 10 year old son Ashton is a great little baseball player. He plays shortstop and pitcher and usually bats first for the teams he plays for. The boy has played baseball pretty much his whole life and he loves it!
Over the past few weeks though, he's developed a huge fear of getting hit with the baseball when he's up to bat. He's never had this problem. It is so severe he will go into panic attacks when it's time for him to bat. He starts crying and his breathing goes crazy. It's really really heart-breaking to watch, especially if you've had the opportunity to watch him play before this started. He wants to get in that batter's box so bad, but the FEAR has a grip on him so tight that it makes it to where he can't even function. It breaks my heart to see him this way. We are working hard and praying a lot trying to help him through this. It gets a little better and then it will grab him again. Last night he had a great game and made some big strides in the right direction.
You and I might not have the fear of getting hit with a baseball but we all deal with fears in our lives. It might be a new job or fear of failure or rejection. Maybe it's the fear of taking a risk. I think we all deal with a little fear from time to time but it's what we do in those times that is important. The single command in the Bible that occurs more often than any other is Fear Not. God knew from the very beginning that we would battle with fear. Did you know that there are 366 “Fear Not” verses in the Bible ? One for every day of the year, including one for leap year.
Ashton is having a hard time facing his fear and pushing through it. I believe with God's help he is going to have the courage, at some point, to face this fear head on. When he does he will get through this and be better for it.
In 2 Timothy it says "For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline."
The next time you are dealing with some fear in your life, remember to fear not for God is with you.
