I Run To You

The name of the Lord is a strong tower; The righteous run to it and are safe.

Proverbs 18:10 (ESV)

It was a typical day. My son Arliss and his six year-old sister were watching a sing-along show while I prepared supper. Arliss had protested my choice of DVD, but I could not decipher his words and assured him there was nothing scary in this collection of kids singing preschool songs. Thinking both kids were happily engrossed, I was in the kitchen when frenetic screams interrupted the merry chorus of “The Farmer in the Dell”. Chaos ensued: Adrian yelled that her brother pulled her hair. Arliss shrieked and trembled as he ran and clung desperately to my legs, burying his face and refusing to budge. Stopping the music, I determined – through sobs, nods, and a makeshift version of 20 Questions that a boy in face paint and mouse ears acting as the rat in the song had terrified him. Afterwards, Arliss exuberantly told anyone and everyone about “the mouse” while Adrian filled in the details missing from his adorable, broken two-year-old speech. Eventually, they pieced the story together in a fuller – and more enlightening – way. They explained that Arliss had initially grabbed onto Adrian, frantically pulling her shirt and trying to hide behind her back. Unable to find relief this way, he had run to me. “I run to you!” he repeated.

His sister had been within easy reach, but I was the one able to provide true solace and eliminate the source of his fear.

When I am afraid, I often do what Arliss did. I reach and flail for whatever is closest and promises the quickest relief. Will knowledge assuage my fears? I grasp a Google search. Will comfort bring me peace? I try another cup of coffee. How about order and calm? I cling to control. The endless, immediate options tempt and mesmerize, but none of them can ultimately heal my frightened soul or challenge the fear at its source.

All the while, my heavenly Father waits patiently for me to run to Him. He is the Shelter, Protector, Comforter, Savior, and Strong Tower who conquered fear once and for all.