Trusting them to Him

I have often shared with my small group girls my struggles with fear. I battle with fear on a pretty regular basis and I am constantly trying to let the Word of God fight this fear through the power of Christ that is in me. It is still a huge battle though. When Sonny has to be out late, I will fear that he is going to die in a car accident. When the kids sleep too long I will sometimes fear that they are hurt or have died in their sleep. I know it might sound crazy- but it is a real struggle that I battle and am learning to overcome.

Anyways, in a few weeks we will be taking our students to a camp in Arkansas and our little ones will not be coming. We prayed about it a lot and it just seemed like Wisdom was telling us that it is best for them to stay here with their grandparents. This was such a hard decision for us. We hate that we have to be away from them for so many days. Its not like we are never away from them- almost once a month the kids will spend the night with one set of grandparents so that we can get some rest and Mommy/Daddy time but this trip to Arkansas is 6 days! I guess my biggest fear is that the kids will think that we have abandoned them and that we do not love them. And with that fear comes the fear that we would somehow die on our trip and the kids would never see us again. Again- I know this might sound crazy and very "Debbie Downer-ish" but it's a real struggle. I have been praying continually that the Lord will help me through this battle and that I would have peace about leaving the kids here while we go minister to our students at camp.

This week a few things have really spoken to me regarding the issue. This one passage from the book the Pursuit of God by AW Tozer has been impressed on my heart so much lately..

We are often hindered from giving up our treasures to the Lord out of fear for their safety; this is especially true when those treasures are loved relatives and friends. But we need have no such fears. Our Lord came not to destroy but to save. Everything is safe which we commit to Him, and nothing is really safe which is not so committed.
(chapter 2)

I am so thankful for Tozer and his bold writings that encourage us to trust Jesus with everything!

This morning I was reading in Joshua and these verses also spoke to me...

43 Thus the LORD gave to Israel all the land that he swore to give to their fathers. And they took possession of it, and they settled there. 44 And the LORD gave them rest on every side just as he had sworn to their fathers. Not one of all their enemies had withstood them, for the LORD had given all their enemies into their hands. 45 Not one word of all the good promises that the LORD had made to the house of Israel had failed; all came to pass. (Joshua 21:43-45)

God's Word is true... it can be trusted... He is faithful and always has our good and His glory in mind when doing ANYTHING. What He does for our good and His glory may not make sense to us but we have to trust Him (Romans 8:28). I have to trust Him. This has been so encouraging to me. I pray the Lord will continue to help me trust in Him and hold fast to His Word. This is my security and my hope. My family is only really safe when I trust them to the Lord =).