conquering fear

When the servant of the man of God got up and went out early the next morning, an army with horses and chariots had surrounded the city. “Oh no, my lord! What shall we do?” the servant asked. “Don’t be afraid,” the prophet answered. “Those who are with us are more than those who are with them.”

- 2 Kings 6:15-16 (NIV)

 

I have often referenced my anxiety in my writing, some people understand it, and some don’t.

I have come a long way in conquering my fears though, for example going to the store alone used to send me into a complete breakdown but over the last year I have been able to go shopping by myself and maybe a few times I might have enjoyed it. 

Then something happened last week that set me back ten years.

Last Monday night while at the store, I was followed.

At first, I thought it was just coincidence, but I started back tracking through some of the grocery section and I noticed the same man was always in the same aisle that I was in, yet he only had one item in his cart. 

Then I went to check out, he was there too, and it took him as long to check out his one item as it took me with my thirteen items.

As I was leaving the store, I called my husband and asked him to stay on the phone with me, as this guy followed me almost to my car.

When I finished putting my bags in the car he quickly walked to his car, three lanes over.

I hightailed it out of my parking space and sped through the parking lot only to have him catch up with me at the light.

My husband told me to come straight home, but I thought I could lose him if I could just get far enough ahead of him which was very dumb of me because every signal light I came to turned red and stayed red long enough for him to catch up with me.  

Finally, I got on a stretch of road where I was able to speed far enough ahead of him to get through my neighborhood without him following any longer.

I spent the next few hours processing the event and talking through it with my husband.

I can’t let this one incident prevent me from going to the store.

When I saw this verse, it spoke volumes to me - “Don’t be afraid, those who are with us are more than those who are with them.”

I know who my God is, and I know I am protected. 
I also have a plan for any similar situation that does not involve high rates of speed.

Conquering fear is hard, if you have never been there, please don’t judge someone that is. 

Give them your hand and help them through it, be “those who are with us”.

 

#dailybreadbykitty

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