My son has been dealing with immense fear. Phases of fearfulness are almost a rite of passage in childhood, but as parents it hurts to watch them struggle.
Fear isn’t limited to childhood, so I thought of how I deal with my fears and tried to explain that to him. I got my main point across that the Lord, our God, is good. He is the Supreme maker of the universe. No problem is too big for Him and no evil is stronger than Him. He has the power to protect us and invites us to ask Him for help. My son understood. Hearing this brought him some reassurance, but lecturing only goes so far with kids. He still needed practice dealing with fear when it arose, so I gave him the following 2 concrete activities he could use when fear strikes.
1. As a small child, I taught him to pray fear away. I told him to repeat, “Lord, Please take anything bad and throw it far, far way.” I taught him to say it over and over until his fear subsided. It’s so simple and to the point, that I’ve started using this little prayer technique whenever I’m scared too.
2. My mind is always creating educational resources, and I prayerfully created a set of activities to help children deal with fear. In this resource pack, children are prompted to draw a picture to represent their fears. They then trace a biblical truth or specific scripture. Finally, they are asked to rewrite it, cut it out, and glue that truth over the picture above. When finished, I like to reiterate that God is stronger than any bad thing. He can help us overcome if we ask. (Jer. 29:12). (I’ve provided 2 versions. The 1st set is for early writers. The 2nd set is for pre-writers.) If you’re interested in this resource, you can find it here:
**Side note: I’m careful to tell him that the bible states, As the heavens are higher than the Earth, God’s ways are higher than our ways (Isaiah 55.9). We don’t always have the capability to understand why things happen the way they do. When bad things happen, it can serve a purpose for a greater good that we don’t understand in the moment (or ever). However, God is ultimately good and wants the best for us (Jer. 29:11). I tell him this so he understands that God may not solve every problem we ask of him because God can see the bigger picture and knows what’s best.
I hope you can use these ideas to help the little ones in your life work through their tough times!