Hebrews 10:35-36
So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded. You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised.
Hebrews 10:35-36 NIV
Ephesians 3:12
In him and through faith in him we may approach God with freedom and confidence.
2 Timothy 1:7
For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.
Champion featuring Michael Bethany
Happy Twelfth Day of Thanks Everyone!
Today I give thanks for confidence; when we can trust in something or someone we can boldly and courageously act, knowing that there is an assurance that all is well.
For several months, Lilah has been going through a situation where she will not get on her school bus in the morning. It’s a long story but the first matron and bus driver she had at the beginning of last year’s school period terrorized my baby in a way that she didn’t want to get on her school bus anymore. At the same time the bus situation was occurring, my mother unexpectedly died and the grief took Lilah into a severe separation anxiety with panic attacks. She would not leave my side and get on her bus in the mornings for a very long time. When we finally got another driver and matron who were so much nicer and more patient, Lilah regained her confidence in the safety of the bus staff and the bus ride and started to ride her bus again in the mornings. This year, she had an incident on the bus where another student said some derogatory things to her triggering her and regressing her back to last year’s state of mind where she doesn’t want to get on her school bus in the morning again. She also has a matron who is very rigid, not welcoming and exacerbates the situation of her not wanting to resume getting on the bus.
In addition to this being a very fearful and anxiety ridden situation for Lilah, this has been a very frustrating and overwhelming situation for me. Delilah's school is about 1 hour and 20 minutes away by public transportation. I’ve had to make an almost three hour trek each morning to get her to school, even in inclement weather situations. I decided that each morning, no matter what, Delilah has to make an attempt to conquer her fear and get on her morning school bus. Each day we pray the word of God over Delilah and make declarations that she will have the mind of Christ. We then quote declarations of the word of God from the Bible, some of which are this morning’s devotional scriptures. I reassure Delilah that she can do all things through Christ Jesus, who strengths her. I remind her that she has not been given a spirit of fear, but of power love and sound mind. I reiterate that God promises to be with her, even until the end of the earth and that He has given His angels to have charge over her to keep her and guard her at all times. After we go through our daily ritual, I encourage her to make steps forward to get on her bus.
In the beginning of this experience, she wouldn't even step off the curb of the sidewalk to get close to the bus. She would say, “Bye-bye bus!” and wave to the bus driver and matron to let us all know that there was no chance that she was getting on the bus. With time, as we completed our morning ritual, Delilah would gain the confidence to bring herself closer and closer to the bus door in the morning as she contemplates whether she is going to get on or not.
Delilah’s confidence was coming from knowing that God was with her and that His angels were protecting her. She was gaining confidence as she learned that she didn’t have to be afraid or filled with anxiety about getting on the bus. I also reminded her that she could have confidence in her safety being maintained while she was on the bus. With every layer of encouragement, there were layers of fear being peeled off. Delilah was learning how to block out the noise of all the voices that were trying to convince her that she couldn’t take the bus ride to school in the morning, for whatever reason.
Just last week, after we quoted our declarations, she stepped on the inside of her school bus, made it to the top of the landing, looked around for a moment and contemplated if she would stay on. One of the students on the bus made a noise and it deterred her from staying on the bus. I was crushed because I had all hopes that she would stay on and take the ride to school. When Delilah got off the bus, I let her know that I was proud of her for making the progress she had made, although she still wasn’t at the completion of the goal to stay on her bus and ride to school. She was gaining even more confidence.
I encouraged her and told her that we would keep pressing through her fears until she conquered them.
As her mom, I want to shield her from the kid who screams derogatory things at her and the matron who is not as kind as she should be. But, I know that in life, Delilah will have to learn how to deal with difficult people. There are situations that she will encounter where she will have to do what she needs to do, while being afraid. It is important for me to have her learn these life lessons now because I will not always be here to shield her and protect her from the world. I want to know that Delilah will eventually be able to handle herself with poise in the difficult moments of addressing cantankerous people.
Each day, I see Delilah get more confident as she takes steps toward her bus. I am even more proud than the day before. I know that one day very soon, this fear will be completely conquered and she will never have to deal with not getting on her bus ever again because of another person.
Today as I give thanks for confidence, I invite you to address one of the fears that you have. Whatever the fear is, get corresponding scripture from the bible that address that fear and begin to declare the word over that fear every day until it breaks. I also invite you to donate to Hope Is Alive Ministries, https://hopeisalive.net/, which is a ministry that is radically changing the lives of those who are addicted to drugs and their families, helping them gain the confidence to live free.
Love Ya,
Have a Great Day of Thanks!
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