paralyzed by fear.
Fear is always looming around us and if we are not vigilant we can easily find ourselves paralyzed in its grips.
Fear has always been something that I’ve had to battle. If there were recordings of my prayer time, you would see that for 22 years, almost daily, I have had some conversation with God regarding my fear.
It was during one of my conversations with God that He gave me a visual as to what it’s like for me to lay my fears down at His feet.
the naughty step technique.
From time to time I like to watch the show “Supernanny” and if you’ve ever watched the show, then you will understand when I use the term, “naughty step.” It’s Jo Frost/Supernany’s version of time out.
The technique goes like this…
First, you put the child on the naughty step.
Second, you explain to the child why they’re on the step.
Third, you walk away.
Fourth, if/when the child gets up, then you go back, place the child back down on the naughty step, without saying anything to them and you walk away again. If the child tries to talk to you while sitting on the naughty step, you say nothing. You don’t give the child the attention they are asking for.
Fifth, once the timer is done you go back to the child and ask for an apology and tell them how much you love them.
application.
God’s visual for me to lay down my fears at his feet was the “naughty step technique.”
In the first step, you put your fear on the naughty step/at God’s feet.
Second, you recognize what you are fearing and you verbalize your fears to God.
Third, you walk away. You leave your fears at the feet of God and you stop thinking about them.
Fourth, when your fears start popping back up in your mind, you don’t acknowledge them/give them power, you simply go back to the feet of God and set them down again. When they seek your attention again you ignore them.
step four.
I have watched Supernanny enough to know that step four is the most important and is almost guaranteed to happen. I have yet to see an episode where the child stays on the step after being placed there for the first time. The child always gets up and demands attention.
I have experienced enough fear to know that step four is the most important and is almost always guaranteed to happen. I can not recall a fear of mine that I allowed to stay at the feet of God after the first attempt of laying it down.
My fears have always popped back up in one way or another and demanded my attention. Many times, I have given in to my fear’s need for attention and had to start the whole process over again.
67 times.
Last I heard Supernanny’s record for a child getting up off the naughty step was 67 times!
Even at 67 times the parents stuck with the technique and at the end of it all they gave the same response that I hear on every episode, “I can’t believe it worked. This is amazing!”
Also, worth mentioning is that every time a parent does this technique, they question it and say that it’ll never work for their child and they question their own strength while applying the technique.
It’s always worked in the episodes, not one child has beaten the technique.
Only God knows what my record is for times I’ve had to lay down my fears at His feet. I’m sure with some of my fears the number surpasses 67. I do know that I refuse to give up on laying those fears down because I’ve seen the technique work and it’s changed my life.
I’m not paralyzed by fear anymore.
I know that I will have victory over my fears, because when Christ died the chains of fear were crushed.
So, no matter how many times I have to return my fears to the feet of God it is worth it.
step 5.
Step five, you rejoice in knowing that He has taken your fears from you because He loves you and you walk away in freedom.
“So here’s what I’ve learned through it all: Leave all your cares and anxieties at the feet of the Lord, and measureless grace will strengthen you.”
Psalm 55:22 (TPT)
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