“you are her daughters if you do good and do not fear anything that is frightening.” 1 Peter 3:6
Yep, that's really her in front of the Taj Majal! (Can't say the study-abroad in India wasn't a little frightening!)
I’ve been making my way through 1 Peter 3, and yesterday I came across this fascinating little tidbit that goes into my file, “Never think the Bible is not humorous.” I mean, come on, “do not fear anything that is frightening.” That doesn’t make any sense. If it said, “do not fear, for I am with you,” as Isaiah 43 does, I would have nodded my head, knowing that’s harder in practice than in reality. But it’s just plain outlandish to say, “do not fear anything that is frightening.” Not to mention that it seemed Sarah did have some fears of frightening possibilities, for which reason she took things into her own hands to forestall the obvious reality (to her) that she would remain childless.
And what, you say, does this have to do with those of you who are taking your daughter (or son) to college for the first time, or to kindergarten, for that matter. Well, it’s been three years since I wrote a and one since I wrote about the second , and Thursday I will head to Greenville to help her move back into her dorm for her senior year. (She’s already there because she’s been working in a ministry that takes challenged teens on adventure trips — her favorite group is the sex offenders, and her favorite trip is the whitewater rafting!)…and since the first daughter-matriculation there has been a second daughter-matriculation. So it’s a good time to check in in my fear department. How am I doing? I can honestly say that some of the things that terrified me (because they were indeed frightening!) no longer have any hold over me. Perhaps because they haven’t happened. Most likely because God has shown me how little power and control I really have over my children’s lives, especially as they become adults. Probably because I’ve seen how God has redeemed painful stories in their lives along the way. Right now, I can honestly say, I haven’t thought of anything frightening to fear yet. But when I do, for surely I will, I pray that I will see the wonder of the gospel in helping me to live out this holy Word: “Do not fear anything that is frightening.” (Or the ridiculous horrific scenarios I create in my own imagination!:)
