Afraid of your own shadow

“I sought the Lord, and he answered me; he delivered me from all my fears.” Psalm 34:4

Afraid of your own shadow means a person is extremely shy and nervous. They are usually introverts and afraid of everything.

I was that girl……..afraid of everything. I was afraid of the dark, thunderstorms, strange noises in the night, and the unknown. I remember making myself sick worrying about dying. How was it possible to live forever and ever in heaven?

I’m thankful that as I got older, fear no longer consumed me. I learned there are countless things in this world that I cannot control so I needed to stop fretting about all this stuff.

There are numerous verses in the Bible about fear, anxiety, and worry that help equip us on how to deal with these issues. Joshua 1:9 says, “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.” I just love that verse.

In the 23rd Psalm, David refers to the Lord as his shepherd which would make us the sheep. A shepherd uses a rod and a staff to protect his sheep from harm and keep them from going astray, just as Jesus keeps us in his protective care. “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.”

I love the teachings of Rick Warren. In one of his sermons he talks about shadows and how we don’t have to be afraid of them because they can’t hurt us. He goes on to bring up another point. There has to be a light source for there even to be a shadow so we should turn our back to the shadow and face the light. Jesus is called the light of the world so when we face him we have nothing to fear.

As believers we no longer have to be afraid of our own shadow or anything else in this world because we have a Heavenly Father that loves us and has prepared a place for us to dwell forever and ever.