One summer evening during a violent thunderstorm, a mother was tucking her small boy into bed. Just as she was about to turn off the light, he asked, with a tremor in his voice, "Mommy, will you sleep with me tonight?"

She smiled and gave him a reassuring hug. "I can't, dear. I have to sleep in bed with your daddy."

A long silence followed. Then a shaky little voice said, "Oh. That big baby."

I love that story, because most of us know exactly what that little boy was feeling — even if we're a bit more grown up about hiding it. We are all, in our own ways, afraid of the dark. Afraid of the storm. Afraid of what's coming and what we can't control.

What will the diagnosis be? What's going to happen to this relationship? Will I still have a job next month? Will the people I love be okay?

Here's something worth knowing: the most frequently repeated command in the Bible isn't "love God" or "love your neighbor," even though Jesus called those the greatest commandments. The phrase that appears more often than any other instruction in scripture is simply this: fear not.

Over and over, in story after story, to person after person — fear not. Fear not. Fear not.

That repetition tells us something. God isn't surprised by our fear. God doesn't expect us to arrive at some permanent state of fearlessness and stay there. The command keeps being given because we keep needing to hear it — in the storm, in the diagnosis, in the middle of the night when the thunder feels close and the dark feels heavy.

Psalm 46 puts it this way: "God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea."

Not because nothing frightening will ever happen. But because, whatever comes, we are not facing it alone.

Prayer: Loving God, we admit that when we face difficult, confusing, frightening circumstances in life, it is often hard to trust you. Fear rises up in us, and our minds rush to the worst possible outcome. Reassure us today with your presence. Help us to trust that in life and in death we belong to you. We remember that you are love, and we claim the promise of 1 John 4:18, that perfect love casts out fear. In the midst of whatever we face, cast out our fear and help us to trust, through Jesus Christ. Amen.

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