Wander Woman

Children who have night terrors are usually described as ‘bolting upright’ with their eyes wide open, with a look of fear and panic, and letting out a ‘blood curdling scream’. These kids will usually also be sweating, breathing fast and have a rapid heart rate.   And although it will seem like they are awake, during a night terror, children will appear confused, will not be consolable and won’t recognize you.

The night before last, my husband and I, awoke to the above discription.  My oldest child, Tyler, has had night terrors ever since he was little.  They are not as frequent as they used to be though.  Praise God!  Night terrors can be very scary and distressing for a parent.  I pray hard everytime he has an episode.  But, this is not the only thing.  He also has nightmares that send him running to our bed in the middle of the night.  He wants a nightlight on.  And he always has to have some type of noise in the background.  We cannot say bedtime prayers without asking for protection and good dreams.  Often times, we pray several times before he finally drifts off to sleep and especially if the, “Lord, please give us good dreams,” gets left out.  We have Psalm 4:8 “I will lie down and sleep in peace, for you alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety,” written on a card and he sleeps with it in his pillowcase.  While I do not have night terrors and nightmares, I can sometimes struggle with fear.  I used to never stay alone overnight, even after I was married with kids.  The Lord has done a work in my life and this is no longer the case.  When that fear does start to creap in, I try to quickly remind myself of God’s promises and trust Him. 

Here is some of what was in Morning and Evening yesterday.  It was perfect timing given what had happened the night before.  God is good! 

Psalm 91:5 “You will not fear the terror of night.”

…….for whatever the terror is, the promise is that the believer shall not be afraid.  Why should one be?  Let’s put it more specifically, why should we?  God our father is here, and will be here all through the lonely hours; He is an almighty Watcher, a sleepless Guardian, a faithful Friend.  Nothing can happen without His direction, for even hell itself is under His control.  Darkness is not dark to Him.  He has promised to be a wall of fire around His people - and who can break through such a barrier?  Worldlings may well be afraid, for they have an angry God above them, a guilty conscience within them, and a yawning hell beneath them; but we who rest in Jesus are saved from all these through rich mercy.  If we succumb to foolish fear we shall dishonor our profession and lead others to doubt the reality of godliness.  We ought to be afraid of being afraid, lest we should vex the Holy Spirit by foolish distrust……..  It may be night in the soul, but there is no need to be terrified, for the God of love never changes.   

“Though the night be dark and dreary,
Darkness cannot hide from Thee; 
Thou are He, who, never weary, 
Watchest where Thy people be.”