Safety Is of the Lord: Reflections from a Fretful Mother Learning to Trust a Faithful God
“The horse is prepared against the day of battle: but safety is of the Lord.”
—Proverbs 21:31
There are few things that awaken a mother’s soul more than fear.
Not the fear of hardship for herself—but for her children.
I remember it clearly, though the years have flown.
When they were small, my fears were wrapped in soft blankets and buckled into car seats.
I feared child abductions.
I feared sudden childhood illness.
I feared a world that felt too sharp, too dark, too unstable for such small hands and innocent hearts.
And always—always—I feared the roads.
The possibility of a car accident haunted me like a shadow.
When we packed up for road trips, I’d have my husband double-check the tires, the route, while I handled the snacks, the seatbelts—yet beneath it all was the hum of “what if?”
What if we never made it there?
What if I lost them all in a moment?
What if the next curve held our undoing?
It’s hard to admit that kind of fear.
Even harder to reconcile it with faith.
But fear, in its rawest form, is often not intentional rebellion—it’s love stretched thin and trembling.
It’s the ache of never wanting to be without what we hold most dear this side of heaven.
I like to believe the Lord has compassion for that kind of fear.
I’ve seen His patience with me.
He doesn’t scold with thunder; He gently leads.
And over time, He has taught me this:
Fear cannot change a moment.
But trust can redeem it.
As my children grew into teenagers, and then young adults, the fears simply matured along with them.
Teaching them to drive…
Letting them go alone down highways I couldn’t see…
Releasing them to faraway cities and unfamiliar places…
My oldest children now live over 2,000 miles away—in Florida.
They face hurricanes.
They commute in heavy traffic.
They drive late at night.
They make adult decisions.
And I no longer tuck them in at night.
I no longer peek in to be sure they’re breathing.
I no longer have my hand on the steering wheel.
But someone does.
Safety is of the Lord.
And this truth has become a lifeline for my anxious soul:
I am not in control.
But I love a God who is.
When fear creeps in (and it still does), I cling to two verses that have ministered to me deeply through the years.
“For the thing which I greatly feared is come upon me, and that which I was afraid of is come unto me.
I was not in safety, neither had I rest, neither was I quiet; yet trouble came.”
—Job 3:25–26
How those words gripped me when an older woman at church first shared them with me.
Job feared what eventually came to pass—yet all his worry could not prevent it.
He had no peace, no rest, no quiet—and still, trouble came.
Because worry never built a fortress.
Fear never added an hour to the day.
And anxiety never once stopped the hand of tragedy.
She looked me gently in the eye and said,
“Don’t dwell on what you fear, dear. You only give it power over your heart.”
She was right.
“Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.”
—1 Peter 5:7
We mothers are so good at caring—for everyone, for everything.
But we’re not so good at casting.
We hold things too long.
We hold our children too tightly.
And sometimes we forget whose hands are stronger than ours.
Our safety, and theirs, is not in seatbelts or security systems or street smarts.
It’s not in careful planning or sleepless watching.
Our safety is in the Lord.
Always has been. Always will be.
So, if today your mind is weighed down with “what ifs”…
If you’ve kissed a forehead goodbye that now rests 2,000 miles away…
If your child is in a storm, or behind the wheel, or out of reach…
You can breathe.
He holds them.
He holds you.
And no matter what may come—He is faithful.
Safety is of the Lord.
Resting in Him,
Biblical Womanhood
I spoke to some of my non believing friends on this very issue. I have only been saved for 2 years and my anxiety fades the more I learn to run to my Abba. I cannot control the world. And I am very thankful for that. Because I would do it wrong every time, but we serve a Good God. So I will trust Him💜
Been there, my friend. My girls are grown now, 28 and 38, but we had difficult times just like any family. My youngest was special needs, I had chronic illness (still do), my husband’s job demands kept him away a lot, so a wise older friend told me, “Most things you are afraid of never happen.” She was right. As my children grew and I realized I couldn’t control everything around them, I had to remind myself often (and rest in it) that God loves my daughters more than I do, as hard as that is to believe. Bad things are going to happen to our children. We cannot stop that. They live in a flawed world just like we all do. My husband and I gave them as strong a faith foundation as we could, but it’s up to them now, to continue to grow in knowledge of the Lord. At times, I see proof of that in their lives but at other times, I’m not so sure. Regardless, they’re adults now, and the best I can do is pray for them and encourage them in their walk. And if I respond with anything but calm faith, then I am not showing them what real faith is. I MUST model total surrender and true belief in His provision so that they know what it looks like to live a life surrendered to Christ. I am peaceful because God helps me remember that we have no control over anything in our life except for our attitude and the way we lead our spiritual life.