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“So we can confidently say, “The Lord is my helper; I will not fear; what can man do to me?” Hebrews 13:6

I’ve written a couple times about lessons from my rescue dog (see here and here). Caroline still follows me around the house—for the most part. But if she isn’t under my feet at my work desk, or lying by the couch when I’m there, she’s in our room snuggled under our bed. (We call it “Caroline’s Clubhouse.”)

In addition to her thankfulness and joy in the rescue (lesson 1) and her desire to be close to her rescuer (lesson 2), there’s another spiritual-life reflection that struck me recently. See, when a storm is brewing and thunder rolls, my little dog starts shaking like a leaf. Nothing can calm her. Then as the rain dumps and the thunder and lightning are in full swing, she is an inconsolable mess. I may be humanizing her too much here, but my rationale is that her life on the street so traumatized her that when storms came, she had nowhere and no one to run. She had to rely on herself to find a place to hide and wait out the storm in fear.

I try to console her, hold her, even crawl under the bed to calm her…but she just doesn’t understand that she is safe with us, protected from what is scaring her. Her life is not what it used to be. She has been rescued and is no longer fending for herself in a dangerous world. She has a safe haven with us. Not that she won’t ever get hurt, of course. Accidents happen, like getting injured by her larger dog-sister while playing. Or Caroline still makes self-harming choices, like diving out an open window through the screen to go bark at the neighbor’s dog. Old “ghetto” habits from her past life still pop up, but she’s getting better through the years. (For instance, on our walks she no longer jumps up on our neighbor’s trash cans to knock them over in search of food.)

But when it comes to her fear and trepidation when storms come, her fears are completely unwarranted. She has been rescued, no longer needing to seek out self-protection—just like she doesn’t have to worry about how and where to find her next meal. We are for her, we will protect her, and we want only her best—even when she doesn’t understand what’s going on. (Because, well, she’s a dog.)

Hopefully, spiritual lightbulbs are going off for you like they did for me. As believers in Christ Jesus, we have no need to fear! We have been rescued! The Lord is Sovereign and Good—our best is always and only His will. Storms will come in our lives—Jesus promised it (John 16:33). But we never have to fear them. He also assured us that He’ll always be with us (Matthew 28:20), never leaving or forsaking us (Deuteronomy 31:6). The Lord is our Anchor (Hebrews 6:17-20) and our Strong Tower (Psalm 61:1-3), whether our storms are a result of this fallen world, other people, our soul’s enemy (Satan), our own sinfulness…or even previous ghetto—or pigsty—behavior.

Beloved, we do not have to live like we used to, believing we need to figure it all out on our own. Whether your go-to response to fear is taking tighter control, drowning or numbing it, or lashing out to hurt-before-being-hurt, you can give your fear to the Lord. He’s got you. And me. So, when we hear the proverbial thunder roll, let’s stand in faithful confidence that there is no fear in the perfect love of Christ in us (1 John 4:13-18).

“Lord, when I am afraid, I will trust in You, knowing You have not given me a spirit of fear, but of power, love, and self-control. I can fear not, because You are always with me.”

For His Glory

Julianne Winkler Smith
TRBC Women’s Life